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ROLLO  AT  PLAY; 

OK, 

SAFE     AMUSEMENTS 


"  Now  he  is  standing  perfectly  still. 
0,  Jonas,  come  and  see  him.'* — f,  14. 


ROLLO  AT  PLAY. 


THE  EOLLO  SEEIES 


IS    COMPOSED    OP    FOURTEEN    VOLUMES,    VIZ. 


Rollo  Learning  to  Talk. 
Rollo  Learning  to  Read. 
.Rollo  at  Work. 
Rollo  at  Play. 
Rollo  at  School. 
Rollo's  Vacation. 
Rollo's  Experiments, 


>  Rollo's  Museum. 

j  -Rollo's  Travels. 

'>  Rollo's  Correspondence. 

j  Rollo's  Philosophy — Water. 

5  Rollo's  Philosophy — Air. 

I  Rollo's  Philosophy— Fire. 

\  Rollo's  Philosophy— Sky. 


A     NEW    EDITION,    REVISED    BY    THE    AUTHOR. 


PHILADELPHIA : 
PUBLISHED  BY  HOGAN  &  THOMPSON. 

BOSTON: 
GOULD,  KENDALL  &  LINCOLN. 

1850. 


Entered  according  to  the  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1850,  by 

Hogan  &  Thompson, 
In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


NOTICE   TO   PARENTS. 


Although  this  little  book,  and  its  fellow,  "  Rollo 
at  Work,"  are  intended  principally  as  a  means  of 
entertainment  for  their  little  readers,  it  is  hoped  by. 
the  writer  that  they  may  aid  in  accomplishing  some 
of  the  following  useful  purposes  : — 

1.  In  cultivating  the  thinking  powers ;  as  frequent 
occasions  occur,  in  which  the  incidents  of  the  narra- 
tive, and  the  conversations  arising  from  them,  are 
intended  to  awaken  and  engage  the  reasoning  and 
reflective  faculties  of  the  little  readers. 

2.  In  promoting  the  progress  of  children  in  read- 
ing and  in  knowledge  of  language  ;  for  the  diction 

.of  the  stories  is  intended  to  be  often  in  advance  of 
the  natural  language  of  the  reader,  and  yet  so  used 
as  to  be  explained  by  the  connection. 

3.  In  cultivating  the  amiable  and  gentle  qualities 
of  the  heart.  The  scenes  are  laid  in  quiet  and  vir- 
tuous life,  and  the  character  and  conduct  described 
are  generally — with  the  exception  of  some  of  the 
ordinary  exhibitions   of   childish   folly — character 

ind  conduct  to  be  imitated  ;  for  it  is  generally  bet- 
^Tt'er,  in  dealing  with  children,  to  allure  them  to  what 
Vjs  right  by  agreeable  pictures  of  it,  than  to  attempt 
%sto  drive  them  to  it  by  repulsive  delineatious  of  what 
"jis  wrong. 


CONTENTS 


ROLLO  AT  PLAY. 


Story  1.  Rollo  at  Play  e$  the  Woods. — The  Set- 
ting out.  Bridge-Building.  A  Visitor.  Difficulty. 
Hearts  wrong.    Hearts  right  again. 

Story  2.  The  Steeple-Trap. — The  Way  to  catch  a 
Squirrel.  The  Way  to  lose  a  Squirrel.  How  to  keep 
a  Squirrel.    Fires  in  the  Woods. 

Story  3.  The  Halo  round  the  Moon  ;  or  Lucy's 
Visit. — A  Round  Rainbow.  Who  knows  best,  a  Lit- 
tle Boy  or  his  Father !     Repentance. 

Story  4.  The  Freshet. — Maria  and  the  Caravan. 
Small  Craft.    The  Principles  of  Order.   Clearing  up. 

Story  5.  Blueberrying.— Old  Trumpeter.  Devia- 
tion.   Little  Mosette.    Going  up.    The  Secret  out. 

Story  6.  Trouble  on  the  Mountain. — Boasting. 
Getting  in  Trouble.    A  Test  of  Penitence. 


Engra 

■      Page:  1 

vings.                                   ^f 

PagfO 

Jonas's  Bridge 

6 

Going  to  see  the  Freshet      .        98  .♦ 
Clearing  away                  .            12i* 

The  Lost  Half  Dollar    . 

.    3]  | 

The  Squirrel's  Escape 

34| 

The  Bower  on  the  Mountain     130  V 

"It  is  sprung." 

■'    42 

The  Floating  Nest         .        .      144  ^ 
Coming  down  the  Mountain       162  W 

The  Wrong  Way  to  ask  a 

Favor  66 

Repentance 

.   84 

Jim 173  i , 

ROLLO    AT    PLAY 


IS 


THE'  WOODS 


THE  SETTING  OUT. 

Ojne  pleasant  morning  in  the  autumn, 
when  Rollo  was  about  five  years  old,  he 
was  sitting  on  the  platform,  behind  his 
father's  house,  playing.  He  had  a  ham- 
mer and  nails,  and  some  small  pieces  of 
board.  He  was  trying  to  make  a  box. 
He  hammered  and  hammered,  and  pres- 
ently he  dropped  his  work  down  and  said, 
fretfully, 

"  O  dear  me ! " 

"What  is  the  matter,  Rollo?"  said 
Jonas, — for  it  happened  that  Jonas  was 
going  by  just  then,  with  a  wheelbarrow. 

"  I  wish  these  little  boards  would  not 
split  so.     I  cannot  make  my  box." 


8  ROLLO  AT  PLAY 

"  You  drive  the  nails  wrong ;  you  put 
the  wedge  sides  with  the  grain." 

"  The  wedge  sides ! "  said  Rollo  ; 
"  what  are  the  wedge  sides, — and  the 
.grain  ?     I  do  not  know  what  you  mean." 

But  Jonas  went  on,  trundling  his  wheel- 
barrow ;  though  he  looked  round  and  told 
Rollo  that  he  could  not  stop  to  explain  it 
to  him  then. 

Rollo  was  discouraged  about  his  box. 
He  thought  he  would  look  and  see  what 
Jonas  was  going  to  do.  Jonas  trundled 
the  wheelbarrow  along,  until  he  came  op- 
posite the  barn-door,  and  there  he  put  it 
down.  He  went  into  the  barn,  and  pres- 
ently came  out  with  an  axe.  Then  he 
took  the  sides  of  the  wheelbarrow  off, 
and  placed  them  up  against  the  barn. 
Then  he  laid  the  axe  down  across  the 
wheelbarrow,  and  went  into  the  barn 
again.  Pretty  soon  he  brought  out  an 
iron  crowbar,  and  laid  that  down  also  in 
the  wheelbarrow,  with  the  axe. 

Then  Rollo  called  out, 

"Jonas,  Jonas,  where  are  you  going?" 

"  I  am  going  down  into  the  woods 
beyond  the  brook." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do?" 


IN  THE  WOODS.  9 

"  I  am  going  to  clear  up  some  ground." 

"  May  I  go  with  you  ?" 

"  I  should  like  it — but  that  is  not  for 
me  to  say." 

Rollo  knew  by  this  that  he  must  ask 
his  mother.  He  went  in  and  asked  her, 
and  she,  in  return,  asked  him  if  he  had 
read  his  lesson  that  morning.  He  said 
he  had  not ;  he  had  forgotten  it. 

"Then,"  said  his  mother,  "you  must 
first  go  and  read  a  quarter  of  an  hour." 

Rollo  was  sadly  disappointed,  and  also 
a  little  displeased.  He  turned  away, 
hung  down  his  head,  and  began  to  cry. 
It  is  not  strange  that  he  was  disappointed, 
but  it  was  very  wrong  for  him  to  feel  dis- 
pleased, and  begin  to  cry. 

"  Come  here,  my  son,"  said  his  mother. 

Rollo  came  to  his  mother,  and  she  said 
to  him  kindly, 

"  You  have  done  wrong  now  twice  this 
morning ;  you  have  neglected  your  duty 
of  reading,  and  now  you  are  out  of  humor 
with  me  because  I  require  you  to  attend 
to  it.  Now  it  is  my  duty  not  to  yield  to 
such  feelings  as  you  have  now,  but  to 
punish  them.  So  I  must  say  that,  instead 
of  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  you  must  wait 


10  ROLLO  AT  PLAY 

half  an  hour,  before  you  go  out  with 
Jonas." 

Rollo  stood  silent  a  minute, — he  per- 
ceived that  he  had  done  wrong,  and  was 
sorry.  He  did  not  know  how  he  could 
find  Jonas  in  the  woods,  but  he  did  not 
say  any  thing  about  that  then.  He  only 
asked  his  mother  what  he  must  do  for 
the  half  hour.  She  said  he  must  read  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  and  the  rest  of  the 
time  he  might  do  as  he  pleased. 

So  Rollo  took  his  book,  and  went  out 
and  sat  down  upon  the  platform,  and  began 
to  read  aloud.  l  When  he  had  finished  one 
page,  which  usually  took  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  he  went  in  to  ask  his  mother  what 
time  it  was.-  She  looked  at  the  clock, 
and  told  him  he  had  been  reading  seven- 
teen minutes. 

"  Is  se  veil  teen  minutes  more  than  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  or  not  so  much?" 
asked  Rollo. 

"It  is  more  -,— fifteen  minutes  is  a 
quarter  of  an  hour.  Now  you  may  do 
what  you  please  till  the  other  quarter  has 
elapsed." 

Rollo  thought  he  would  go  and  read 
more.     It  is  true  he  was  tired ;    but  he 


IN, THE  WOODS.  11 

was  sorry  he  had  done  wrong,  and  he 
thought  that  if  he  read  more  than  he  was 
obliged  to,  his  mother  would  see  that  he 
was  penitent,  and  that  he  acquiesced  in 
his  punishment. 

So  he  went  on  reading,  and  the  rest 
of  the  half  hour  passed  away  very  quick- 
ly. In  fact,  his  mother  came  out  before 
he  got  up  from  his  reading,  to  tell  him  it 
was  time  for  him  to  go.  She  said  she 
was  very  glad  he  had  submitted  pleasant- 
ly to  his  punishment,  and  she  gave  him 
something  wrapped  up  in  a  papef. 

"  Keep  this  till  you  get  a  little  tired 
of  play,  down  there,  and  then  sit  down 
on  a  log  and  open  it." 

Rollo  wondered  what  it  was.  He  took 
it  gladly,  and  began  to  go.  But  in  a 
minute  he  turned  round  and  said, 

"  But  how  shall  I  find  Jonas  ?  " 

"  What  is  he  doing  ?  "  said  his  mother. 

"  He  said  he  was  going  to  clear  up 
some  land." 

"  Then  you  will  hear  his  axe.  Go 
down  to  the  edge  of  the  woods  and 
listen,  and  when  you  hear  him,  call  him. 
But  you  must  not  go  into  the  woods 
unless  you  hear  him." 


12  ROLLO  AT  PLAY 


BRIDGE  BUILDING 


Rollo  went  on,  down  the  green  lane,  till 
he  came  to  the  turn-stile,  and  then  went 
through  into  the  field.  He  then  followed 
a  winding  path  until  he  came  to  the  edge 
of  the  trees,  and  there  stopped  to  listen. 

He  heard  the  brook  gurgling  along 
over  the  stones,  and  that  was  all  at  first ; 
but  presently  he  began  to  hear  the  strokes 
of  an  axe.  He  called  out  as  loud  as  he 
could, 

"  Jonas !  Jonas  I " 

But  Jonas  did  not  hear. 

Then  he  walked  along  the  edge  of  the 
woods  till  he  came  nearer  the  place  where 
he  heard  the  axe.  He  found  here  a  little 
opening  among  the  trees  and  bushes,  so 
that  he  could  look  in.  He  saw  the  brook, 
and  over  beyond  it,  on  the  opposite  bank, 
was  Jonas,  cutting  down  a  small  tree. 

So  Rollo  walked  on  until  he  came  to 
the  brook,  and  then  asked  Jonas  how  he 
should  get  over.  The  brook  was  pretty 
wide  and  deep. 

Jonas  said,  if  he  would  wait  a  few 
minutes,  he  would  build  him  a  bridge. 


IN  THE  WOODS.  13 

"  You  cannot  build  a  bridge,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  Wait  a  little  and  see." 

So  Rollo  sat  down  on  a  mossy  bank, 
and  Jonas,  having  cut  down  the  small 
tree,  began  to  work  on  a  larger  one  that 
stood  near  the  bank. 

After  he  had  cut  a  little  while,  Rollo 
asked  him  why  he  did  not  begin  the 
bridge. 

"  I  am  beginning  it,"  said  he. 

Rollo  laughed  at  this,  but  in  a  minute 
Jonas  called  to  him  to  stand  back,  awav 
from  the  bank ;  and  then,  after  a  few 
strokes  more,  the  top  of  the  tree  began 
to  bend  slowly  over,  and  then  it  fell  faster 
and  faster,  until  it  came  down  with  a 
great  crash,  directly  across  the  brook. 

"  There  !  "  said  Jonas,  "  there  is  your 
bridge." 

Rollo  looked  at  it  with  astonishment 
and  pleasure. 

"  Now,"  said  Jonas,  "  I  will  come  and 
help  you  over." 

"  No,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  can*  come  over 
myself.  I  can  take  hold  of  the  branches 
for  a  railing."     ' 

So  Rollo  began  to  climb  along  the  stem 


14  ROLLO  AT    PLAT 

of  the  tree,  holding  on  carefully  by  the 
branches.  When  he  reached  the  middle 
of  the  stream,  he  stopped  to  look  down 
into  the  water. 

"  This  is  a  capital  bridge  of  yours, 
Jonas,"  said  he.  "How  beautiful  the 
water  looks  down  here!  O,  I  see  a 
little  fish !  He  is  swimming  along  by  a 
great  rock.  Now  he  is  standing  perfectly 
still.     O,  Jonas,  come  and  see  him."* 

"  No,"  said  Jonas,  "  I  must  mind  my 
work." 

After  a  little  time,  Rollo  went  carefully 
on  over  the  bridge,  and  sat  down  on  the 
bank  of  the  brook.  But  he  did  not  have 
with  him  the  parcel  his  mother  gave  him. 
He  had  left  it  on  the  other  side. 

After  he  had  watched  the  fishes,  and 
thrown  pebble-stones  into  the  brook  some 
time,  he  began  to  be  tired,  and  he  asked 
Jonas  what  he  had  better  do. 

"  I  think  you  had  better  build  a  wig- 
wam." 

"A  wigwam?  What  is  a  wigwam?" 
said  Rollo.  -  ■  x 

"It  is  a  little  house  made  of  bushes; 
such  as  the  Indians  live  in." 

*  See  picture  at  the  beginning  of  this  story. 


IN  THE  WOODS.  15 

"  O,  I  could  not  make  a  house,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  I  think  you  could  if  I  should  tell  you 
how,  and  help  you  a  little." 

"  But  you  say  you  must  mind  your 
work." 

"  Yes, — I  can  mind  my  work  and  tell 
you  at  the  same  time." 

Rollo  thought  he  should  like  to  build  a 
wigwam  very  much.  Jonas  told  him  the 
first  thing  to  be  done  was  to  find  a  good 
place,  where  the  ground  was  level.  Rollo 
looked  at  a  good  many  places,  but  at  last 
chose  a  smooth  spot  under  a  great  oak 
tree,  which  Jonas  said  he  was  not  going 
to  cut  down.  It  was  near  a  beautiful 
turn  in  the  brook,  where  the  water  was 
very  deep. 

Jonas  told  him  that  the  first  thing  was 
to  make  a  little  stake,  and  drive  it  down 
in  the  middle  of  his  wigwam-ground. 
Then  Rollo  recollected  that  he  had  left 
his  hatchet  over  on  the  other  side  of  the 
brook,  together  with  the  parcel  his  mother 
gave  him ;  and  he  was  going  over  to  get 
them,  when  Jonas  told  him  he  would  trim 
up  the  bridge  a  little,  and  then  he  could 
go  over  more  easily. 


16  ROLLO  AT  PLAY 

So  Jonas  went  upon  the  bridge,  and 
began  to  cut  away  the  branches  that  were 
in  the  way,  leaving  enough  on  each  side 
to  take  hold  of,  and  to  keep  Rollo  from 
falling  in.  Rollo  could  then  go  back  and 
forth  easily.  He  held  on  with  one  hand, 
and  carried  his  hatchet  in  the  other. 
Then  he  went  over  again,  and  brought 
his  parcel,  and  laid  it  down  near  the  great 
oak  tree. 

Then  he  made  a  little  stake,  and  drove 
it  down  in  the  middle  of  the  wigwam- 
ground.  Then  he  asked  Jonas  what  he 
must  do  next. 

"  That  is  the  centre  of  your  wigwam ; 
now  you  must  strike  a  circle  around  it." 

"What?"  said  Rollo. 

"  Don't  you  know  how  to  strike  a 
circle?"  said  Jonas. 

Rollo  said  he  did  not,  and  then  Jonas 
told  him  to  do  exactly  as  he  should  say, 
and  that  would  show  him. 

"  First,"  said  Jonas,  "  have  you  got  a 
string  ?  V 

Rollo  felt  in  his  pockets  in  vain,  but  he 
recollected  his  little  parcel,  which  was 
tied  with  a  piece  of  twine,  and  held  it  up 
to  ask  Jonas  if  that  would  do.     Jonas 


IN  THE  WOODS.  17 

said  it  would,  and  told  him  to  take  it  off 
carefully,  and,  tie  one  end  of  it  to  his 
centre  stake. 

And  Rollo  did  so.  ■•*.'; 

"  Now,"  said  Jonas,  "  make  another 
little  sharp  stake  for  the  marker,  and  tie 
the  other  end  of  the  twine  to  that,  near 
the  sharp  end." 

Rollo  worked  busily  for  some  time,  and 
then  called  out, 

"  Jonas,  it  is  done." 

All  this  time,  Jonas  was  at  work  in  the 
bushes,  at  a  little  distance.  He  now 
came  to  Rollo's  wigwam-ground,  and 
took  hold  of  the  marker,  and  held  it  off 
as  far  from  the  middle  stake  as  it  would 
go,  and  then  began  to  make  a  mark  on 
the  ground  all  around  the  middle  stake. 
Now,  as  the  marker  was  tied  to  the 
middle  stake  by  the  string,  the  mark  was 
equally  distant  from  the  middle  stake  in 
every  part,  and  that  made  it  exactly 
round.  Then  Jonas  laid  down  the  mark- 
er, and  pulled  out  the  middle  stake ;  and 
they  looked  down  and  saw  that  there  was 
a  round  mark  on  the  ground,  about  as 
large  as  a  cart-wheel. 

Then  Jonas  took  the  crowbar,  and 
a*  2  B*  v 


18  ROLLO  AT  FLAY. 

made  deep  holes  all  around,  in  this  circle, 
so  far  apart  that  Rollo  could  just  step 
from  one  to  the  other.  But  Rollo  could 
not  understand  how  he  could  make  a 
house  so. 

"  I  will  tell  you,"  said  Jonas.  "  You 
must  now  go  and  get  some  large  branches 
of  trees,  and  trim  off  the  twigs  from  the 
lower  end,  and  stick  them  down  in  these 
holes.     I  will  show  you  how." 

So  Jonas  took  a  large  bough,  and 
trimmed  the  large  end,  and  sharpened  it 
a  little,  and  then  he  fixed  it  down  in  one. 
of  these  holes,  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
top  of  it  bent  over  towards  the  middle' 
of  the  circle ;  then  he  went  back  to  his 
work,  leaving  Rollo  to  go  on  with  the 
wigwam. 

A  VISITOR. 

Rollo  put  down  two  or 'three  branches 
very  well,  and  was  very  much  delighted 
at  seeing  it  gradually  begin  to  look  like  a 
house,  when  he  thought  he  heard  a  voice. 
He  listened  a  moment,  and  heard  some 
one  at  a  distance  calling,  "  Rol — lo, 
Rol— lo." 


IN  THE  WOODS.  19 

Rollo  dropped  his  hatchet,  and  looked 
in  the  direction  that  the  sound  came 
from,  and  called  out  as  loud  as  he  could, 
"  What !  " 

"  Where — are— you  ?  "  was  heard  in 
reply. 

Rollo  answered,  "Here"  and  then  im- 
mediately clambered  along  over  the  bridge, 
and  ran  through  the  woods  until  he  came 
out  into  the  open  field ;  and  there  he  saw 
a  small  boy,  away  off  at  a  distance,  just 
coming  through  the  turn-stile. 

It  was  his  cousin  James.  It  seems  that 
James  had  come  to  play  with  him  that 
day,  and  Rollo's  mother  had  directed  him 
down  towards  the  woods. 

James  came  running  along  towards  Rol- 
lo, holding  up  something  round  and  bright, 
in  each  hand.     They  were  half  dollars. 

"  Where  did  you  get  them  ? n  said 
Rollo. 

"  One  is  for  you,  and  one  is  for  me," 
said  James.  "Uncle  George  sent  them 
to  us." 

"  What  a  beautiful  little  eagle ! "  said 
Rollo,  as  he  looked  at  one  side  of  his  half 
dollar ;  "  I  wish  I  could  get  it  of!  and 
keep  it  separate."  \ 


20  ROLLO  AT  PLAY 

"  O  no,"  said  James,  "  that  would 
spoil  your  half  dollar." 

"  Why,  they  would  know  it  was  a  half 
dollar  by  the  letters  and  the  head  on  the 
other  side.  What  a  pretty  thin  eagle ! 
How  do  you  suppose  they  fasten  it  on  so 
strong  ?  " 

James  said  he  thought  he  could  get  it 
off;  so  they  went  and  sat  down  on  a 
smooth  log,  that  was  lying  on  the  ground, 
and  laid  Rollo's  half  dollar  on  the  log. 
Then  he  took  a  pin,  and  tried  to  drive 
the  point  of  it  under  the  eagle's  head,  with 
a  small  stone.  But  the  eagle  would  not 
move.  They  only  made  some  little  marks 
and  scratches  on  the  silver. 

M  Never  mind,"  said  Rollo ;  "  I  will 
keep  it  as  it  is."  So  he  took  his  half 
dollar,  and  they  walked  along  towards 
the  brook. 

They  showed  their  money  to  Jonas, 
and  told  him  that  they  had  tried  to  get 
the  eagle  off.  He  smiled  at  this.  The 
boys  went  back  soon  to  the  wigwam,  and 
James  said  he  would  help  Rollo  finish  it. 
While  they  were  at  work  they  put  their 
money  on  a  large  flat  stone,  on  the  bank 
of  the  brook.     They  fixed  a  great  many 


IN  THE   WOODS.  21 

boughs  into  their  wigwam,  weaving  them 
in  all  around,  and  thus  made  a  very  pleas- 
ant little  house,  leaving  a  place  for  a  door 
in  front.  When  they  were  tired,  they 
went  and  opened  Rollo's  little  package, 
and  found  a  fine  luncheon  in  it  of  bread 
and  butter  and  pie  ;  which  they  ate  very 
happily  together,  sitting  on  little  hemlock 
branches  in  the  wigwam. 


DIFFICULTY. 

After  their  luncheon,  the  boys  began  to 
talk  about  the  best  place  for  a  window 
for  the  wigwam. 

"  I  think  we  will  have  it  this  side,  tow- 
ards the  brook,"  said  James,  "  and  then 
we  can  look  out  to  the  water." 

"  No,"  said  Rollo,  "  it  will  be  better  to 
have  it  here,  towards  where  Jonas  is  work- 
ing, and  then  we  can  look  out  and  see 
him." 

"  No,"  said  James,  "  that  is  not  a  good 
plan ;  I  do  not  want  to  see  Jonas." 

"  And  I  do  not  want  to  see  the  water," 
replied  Rollo.  "  It  is  my  wTigwam,  and  I 
mean  to  have  the  window  here? 


22  ROLLO  AT  PLAY 

So  saying,  he  went  to  the  side  towards 
Jonas,  and  began  to  take  away  a  bough. 
James  came  there  too,  and  said  angrily, 

"  The  wigwam  is  mine  as  much  as  it  is 
yours,  for  I  helped  make  it,  and  I  will  not 
have  a  window  here." 

So  he  took  hold  of  the  branch  that  Rol- 
lo  had  hold  of.  They  both  felt  guilty  and 
condemned,  but  their  angry  feelings  urged 
them  on,  arid  they  looked  fiercely  at  each 
other,  and  pulled  upon  the  branch. 

"  Rollo,"  said  James,  "  let  go." 

"James,"  said  Rollo,  "I  tell  you,  let 
my  wigwam  alone." 

"  It  is  not  your  wigwam." 

"  I  tell  you  it  is." 

Just  then  they  heard  a  noise  in  the 
bushes.  They  looked  around,  and  saw 
Jonas  coming  towards  them.  They  felt 
ashamed,  and  were  silent,  though  each 
kept  hold  of  the  branch. 

"Now,  boys,"  said  Jonas,  "you  have 
got  into  a  foolish  and  wicked  quarrel.  I 
have  heard  it  all.  Now  you  may  do  as 
you  please — you  may  let  me  settle  it,  or 
I  will  lead  you  home  to  your  mother,  and 
tell  her  about  it,  and  let  her  settle  it." 

The  boys  looked  ashamed,  but  said 
nothing. 


IN  THE  WOODS.  23 

"  If  you  conclude  to  let  me  settle  it, 
you  must  do  just  as  I  say.  But  I  do  not 
pretend  that  I  have  any  right  to  decide 
such  a  case,  unless  you  consent.  So  I 
will  take  you  home,  if  you  prefer." 

The  boys  both  preferred  that  he  should 
settle  it,  and  promised  to  do  as  he  should 
say.  .v 

"  Well,  then,"  said  he,  "  the  first  thing 
is  for  you,  Rollo,  to  go  over  the  other  side 
of  the  brook,  and  you,  James,  to  stay  here, 
and  both  to  sit  down  still,  until  you  have 
had  time  to  cool." 

The  boys  obeyed,  and  Jonas  went  back 
to  his  work. 

The  boys  sat  still,  feeling  guilty  and 
ashamed ;  but  they  were  not  penitent. 
They  ought  to  have  been  sorry  for  their 
fault,  and  become  good-natured  and  pleas- 
ant again.  But  instead  of  that,  they  were 
silent  and  displeased,  eyeing  one  another 
across  the  brook.  Jonas  waited  some 
time,  and  then  came  and  called  them  both 
to  him.  . 

"  Now,"  says  James,  "  I  will  tell  you 
all  about'  it,  and  you  shall  decide  who  was 
to  blame." 

"  I  heard  it  all,  and  I  know  which  was 


24  ROLLO  AT  PLAY 

to  blame ;  you,  James,  came  here  to  see 
Rollo,  and  found  him  building  a  wigwam. 
It  was  his  wigwam,  not  yours.  He  began 
it  without  you,  and  was  going  on  without 
you,  and  when  you  came,  you  had  no 
right  tc  assume  any  authority  about  it. 
You  ought  10  have  let  him  do  as  he  wished 
with  his  own  wigwam.  You  were  un- 
just." 

Here  Rollo  began  to  look  pleased  and 
triumphant,  that  Jonas  had  decided  in  his 
favor.  • 

" But,"  continued  Jonas,  "you,  Rollo, 
were  playing  here  alone.  Your  little 
cousin  came  to  see  you  ;  and  you  were 
very  glad  to  have  him  come.  He  helped 
you  build,  and  when  he  wanted  to  have 
the  window  in  a  particular  way,  you  ought 
to  have  let  him.  To  quarrel  with  a  visitor 
for  such  a  cause  as  that,  was  very  ungen- 
tlemanly  and  unkind.  So  you  see  you 
were  both  very  much  to  blame." 

The  boys  looked  guilty  and  ashamed, 
but  they  did  not  feel  really  penitent. 
They  were  not  cordially  reconciled. 
Neither  was  willing  to  give  up. 

"  But,"  said  Rollo,  "  how  shall  we  make 
the  window  ?  " 


IN  THE  WOODS.  25 

"  I  think  you  ought  not  to  make  any 
window,  as  you  cannot  agree  about  it." 
i  They  wanted  to  make  a  window  now 
more  than  ever,  for  each  wanted  to  have 
his  own  way ;  but  Jonas  would  not  con- 
sent, and  as  they  had  agreed  to  abide  by 
his  decision,  they  submitted.  Jonas  then 
returned  to  his  work,  and  the  boys  stood 
by  the  side  of  the  brook,  not  knowing  ex- 
actly what  to  do.  Jonas  told  them,  when 
they  went  away,  that  he  expected  that 
they  would  have  another  quarrel,  as  he 
perceived  that  their  hearts  were  still  in  a 
bad  state. 


HEARTS  WRONG. 

The  boys  sat  down  on  the  bank  of  the 
brook,  and  began  to  pick  up  little  stones 
and  throw  them  into  the  water.  They 
began  soon  to  talk  of  the  window  again. 

Rollo  said,  "  Jonas  thought  you  were 
most  to  blame,  I  know." 

"  No,  he  did  not,"  replied  James.  "  He 
blamed  you  the  most ;  he  said  you  were 
unjust." 

"  I  don't  care,"  said  Rollo.  "  You  do 
not  know  how  to  build  a  wigwam.     You 


26  ROLLO  AT  PLAY 

cannot  reach  high  enough  to  make  a  win- 
dow." 

"  I  can  reach  high,"  said  James.  "  I 
can  reach  as  high  as  that,"  said  he,  stretch- 
ing up  his  hand. 

"  And  I  can  reach  as  high  as  that"  said 
Hollo,  stretching  up  his  hand  higher  than 
James  did ;  for  he  was  a  little  taller. 

James  was  somewhat  vexed  to  find  that 
Rollo  could  reach  higher  than  he  could, 
though  it  was  very  foolish  to  allow  him- 
self to  be  put  out  of  humor  by  such  a 
thing.  But  boys,  when  they  are  ill-hu- 
mored, and  dispute,  are  always  unreason- 
able and  foolish.  James  determined  not 
to  be  outdone,  so  he  took  up  a  stick,  and 
reached  it  up  in  the  air  as  high  as  he 
could,  and  said, 

"  I  can  reach  up  as  high  as  that" 

Then  Rollo  took  up  a  stone,  and  tossed 
it  up  into  the  air,  saying, 

"  And  I  can  reach  as  high  as  that." 

Now,  when  boys  throw  stones  into  the 
air,  they  ought  to  consider  where  they 
will  come  down  ;  but,  unfortunately,  Rollo 
did  not  in  this  case,  and  the  stone  fell 
directly  upon  James's  head.  It  was,  how- 
ever a  small  stone,  and  his  cap  prevented 


IN  THE  WOODS.  27 

it  from  hurting  him  much  ;  but  he  was 
already  vexed  and  out  of  humor,  and  so 
he  began  to  cry  out  aloud. 

Rollo  was  frightened  a  little,  for  he  was 
afraid  he  had  hurt  his  cousin  a  good  deal, 
and  tnen  he  expected  too  that  Jonas  would 
come.  But  Jonas  took  no  notice  of  the 
crying,  but  went  on  with  his  work.  Now, 
Jonas  was  very  kind  and  careful,  and 
always  came  quick  when  there  was  any 
one  hurt.  But  this  time,  he  knew  by  the 
tone  of  James's  crying,  that  it  was  vexa- 
tion rather  than  pain  that  caused  it. 

James,  finding  that  his  crying  did  no 
good,  gradually  became  still ;  and  in  a 
few  minutes,  as  he  happened  to  look 
round,  his  eye  rested  on  the  stone  where 
they  had  put  their  half  dollars,  and  he  saw 
that  only  one  of  them  was  there. 

"  O,  Rollo,"  said  he,  "  one  of  our  half 
dollars  is  gone." 

They  went  to  the  stone,  and,  true 
enough,  one  was  gone.  They  looked 
around,  but  it  was  no  where  to  be  found. 
Boys  that  are  out  of  humor  with  one 
another,  are  never  at  a  loss  for  subjects  of 
dispute  ;  and  Rollo  said  he  believed  James 
had  taken  it,  and  James  charged  it  upon 


23  ROLLO    AT  PLAY 

Rollo.  Then  there  was  a  dispute  who 
should  have  the  one  that  was  left.  James 
knew  it  was  his  ;  he  said  he  remembered 
exactly  how  his  looked  ;  and  Rollo  knew 
it  was  his,  for  the  head  and  the  stars  were 
very  bright  on  his,  and  they  were  very 
bright  on  this.  James,  however,  had  the 
half  dollar,  and  would  not  give  it  up  ;  and 
so  Rollo  went  to  Jonas,  and  told  him  that 
James  had  got  his  half  dollar. 

Jonas  came,  and  heard  the  whole  story 
from  both  of  the  boys.  James  said  he 
kneiv  the  one  that  was  left  was  his,  for  he 
remembered  exactly  how  it  looked,  and 
he  also  remembered  exactly  the  very  spot 
on  the  stone  where  he  put  it  down. 

James  did  not  mean  to  tell  a  lie,  but  he 
was  a  little  angry  and  excited,  and  when 
boys  are  in  that  state  of  mind,  they  are 
very  apt  to  say  they  know  not  what. 

Jonas  looked  at  both  sides  of  the  half 
dollar  very  attentively. 

"Which  half  dollar  was  it,"  said  he, 
"  that  you  tried  to  get  the  eagle  off  of  ?  " 

"  Mine,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  let  me  see." 

Jonas  held  down  the  half  dollar,  and 
showed  to  Rollo  and  James  the  marks 
and  scratches  made  by  the  pin;  proving 


IN  THE  WOODS.  29 

that  this  was  Rollo's  half  dollar.  James 
looked  ashamed  and  confounded  ;  Jonas 
just  waited  to  hear  what  he  would  say. 


HEARTS  RIGHT  AGAIN. 

James  stood  still  a  minute,  thinking; 
presently  he  said, 

"  Well,  Rolio,  I  suppose  my  half  dollar 
is  lost,  but  I  am  glad  yours  is  safe,  at  any 
rate." 

"lam  sorry  yours  is  lost,"  said  Rollo, 
"  but  then  I  can  give  you  half  of  what 
I  buy  with  mine." 

"  Where  did  you  put  the  half  dollars  ?  " 
said  Jonas. 

"  On  that  rock,"  said  Rollo. 

They  walked  along  towards  the  rock. 
It  was  by  the  edge  of  the  water;  Jonas 
thought  that  as  they  had  been  dragging 
boughs  of  trees  along  near  the  rock,  some 
little  branch  might  have  reached  over  and 
brushed  off  one  of  the  pieces  of  money 
into  the  water.  So  he  walked  up  to  it 
and  looked  over. 

In  a  minute  or  two,  he  pointed  down, 


30  ROLLO  AT  FLAY 

and  the  bojs  looked  and  saw  something 
bright  and  glittering  on  the  bottom. 

"  Is  that  it?  V  said  James. 

"  I  believe  it  is,"  said  Jonas. 

Jonas  then  took  off  his  jacket,  rolled  up 
his  shirt  sleeve,  lay  down  on  the  rock, 
and  reached  his  arm  down  into  the  water, 
but  it  was  a  little  too  deep.  He  could 
not  reach  it. 

"  I  cannot  get  it  so,"  said  he. 

"  What  shall  we  do  ? "  said  James. 
"  How  foolish  I  was  to  put  it  so  near  the 
water ! " 

"  I  think  we  shall  contrive  some  way 
to  get  it,"  said  Jonas. 

He  then  sat  down  on  the  rock  and 
looked  into  the  water.  "  We  can.  go 
home  and  get  a  long  pair  of  tongs,  and 
get  it  with  them  at  any  rate,"  said  he. 

"  O,  yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  will  go  and 
get  them ;  "  and  he  ran  off  towards  the 
bridge. 

"  No,"  said  Jonas,  "  stop ;  I  will  try 
one  plan  more." 

So  he  went  and  cut  a  long  straight  stem 
of  a  bush,  and  trimmed  it  up  smooth,  and 
cut    the   largest   end  off  exactly   square. 


IN  THE   WOODS. 


31 


Then  he  went  to  a  hemlock  tree  near, 
and  took  off  some  of  the  gum,  which  was 
very  "  sticky."  He  pressed  some  of  this 
with  his  knife  on  the  end  of  the  stick. 
Then  he  reached  it  very  carefully  down, 
and  pressed  it  hard  against  the  half  dol- 
lar; it  crowded  the  half  dollar  down 
into  the  sand,  out  of  sight. 

"There,  you  have  lost  it,"  said  James. 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Jonas ;  and  he 
began  slowly  and  carefully  to  draw  it  up. 

When  the  end  of  the  stick  came  up  out 
of  the  sand,  the  boys  saw,  to  their  great 


32       ROLLO  AT  PLAY  IN  THE  WOODS. 

delight,  that  the  half  dollar  was  sticking 
fast  on.  They  clapped  their  hands,  and 
capered  about  on  the  stone,  while  Jonas 
gently  drew  up  the  half  dollar,  and  put  it, 
all  wet  and  dripping,  into  James's  hands. 

The  boys  thanked  Jonas  for  getting  up 
the  money,  and  then  they  asked  him  to 
keep  both  pieces  for  them  until  they  went 
home.  Then  they  began  to  think  of  the 
wigwam  again. 

"  We  will  make  the  window  as  you 
want  it,  James,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  I  am  will- 
ing." 

"  No,"  said  James,  "  I  was  just  going 
to  say  we  would  make  it  your  way.  I 
rather  think  it  would  be  better  to  make  it 
towards  the  land." 

"  Why  can  you  not  have  two  win- 
dows ? "  said  Jonas. 

"  So  we  can,"  said  both  of  the  boys  ; 
and  they  immediately  went  to  work  col- 
lecting branches  and  weaving  them  in, 
leaving  a  space  for  a  window  both  sides. 
Their  quarrelsome  feelings  were  all  gone, 
and  they  talked  very  pleasantly  at  their 
work  until  it  was  time  for  them  to  go 
home  to  dinner. 


THE  STEETLE  TRAP 


V 


"  An  escape."— p.  52. 


THE    STEEPLE    TRAP 


THE  WAY  TO  CATCH  A  SQUIRREL. 

The  afternoon  of  the  day  when  Rollo 
and  his  cousin  James  made  their  wigwam 
in  the  woods  by  the  brook,  they  were  at 
work  there  again,  employed  very  harmo- 
niously together,  in  finishing  their  edifice, 
when  suddenly  Jonas,  who  was  at  work 
in  the  woods  at  a  little  distance,  heard 
them  both  calling  to  him,  in  tones  of  sur- 
prise and  pleasure — 

"  O,  Jonas,  Jonas,  come  here  quick — 
quick." 

Jonas  dropped  his  axe  and  ran. 

When  he  got  near  them,  they  pointed 
to  a  log. 

"  See  there  ; — see  ; — see  there." 

"  What  is  it  ?  "  said  Jonas.  "  O,  I  see 
it,"  said  he. 

It  was  a  little  squirrel  clambering  up  a 


36  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

raspberry-bush,  eating  the  raspberries  as 
he  went  along.  He  would  climb  up  by 
the  little  branches,  and  pull  in  the  rasp- 
berries in  succession,  until  he  got  to  the 
topmost  one,  when  the  bush  would  bend 
over  with  his  weight  until  it  almost 
touched  the  log. 

"  Let  us  catch  him,"  said  Rollo,  very 
eagerly ;  "do  let  us  catch  him  ;  I  will  go 
and  get  our  steeple  trap." 

Jonas  did  not  seem  to  be  so  very  much 
delighted  as  the  boys  were.  He  said  he 
was  certainly  a  cunning  little  fellow,  but 
"  what  should  we  do  with  him  if  we 
should  catch  him  ?  " 

"  O,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  would  put  him 
in  a  little  cage.  It  would  be  so  complete 
to  have  him  in  a  cage !     Do,  Jonas,  do." 

"  But  you  have  not  got  any  cage." 

"  We  can  get  one,"  said  James.  "We 
can  buy  one  with  our  half  dollars." 

"  Well,"  said  Jonas,  "  it  will  do  no 
good  to  set  the  trap  now,  for  he  will  be 
away  before  we  could  get  back.  But  I 
will  come  down  to-night,  and  set  the  trap, 
and  perhaps  we  shall  catch  him,  though  I 
do  not  exactly  like  to  do  it." 

"  Why  ?  "  said  the  boys. 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  37 

"  O,"  replied  Jonas,  "  he  will  not  like 
to  be  shut  up  all  night,  in  a  dark  box, 
and  then  be  imprisoned  in  a  cage.  He 
had  rather  run  about  here,  and  gather 
raspberries.  Besides,  jou  would  soon  get 
tired  of  him  if  you  had  him  in  a  cage." 

"O  no,"  said  Rollo,  "I  should  not 
get  tired  of  him." 

"  Did  you  ever  have  any  plaything  that 
you  were  not  tired  of  before  long  ?  " 

"  Why,— no,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  but  then  a 
real  live  squirrel  is  a  different  thing.  Be- 
sides, you  know,  if  I  get  tired  of  him,  I 
need  not  play  with  him  then." 

"  No,  but  a  real  live  thing  must  be  fed 
every  day,  and  that  you  would  find  a  great 
trouble.  And  then  you  would  sometimes 
forget  it,  and  the  poor  fellow  would  be 
half  starved." 

*\ O  no,"  said  Rollo;  "I  am  sure  I 
should  not  forget  it." 

"  Did  you  remember  your  reading- 
lesson  this  morning  ?  " 

"  Why, — no,"  said  Rollo,  looking  a 
little  confused.  "  But  I  am  sure  I  should 
not  forget  to  feed  a  squirrel  if  I  had  one." 

"  You  don't  know  as  much  as  I  thought 
you  did,"  replied  Jonas. 

D 


38  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

"Why?" 

"  I  thought  you  knew  more  about  your- 
self than  to  suppose  you  could  be  trusted 
to  do  any  thing  regularly  every  day. 
Why,  you  would  not  remember  to  wash 
your  own  face  every  morning,  if  your 
mother  did  not  remind  you.  The  squirrel 
is  almost  as  fit  to  take  care  of  you  in  your 
wigwam,  as  you  are  to  take  care  of  him 
in  a  cage." 

Rollo  felt  a  little  ashamed  of  his  boast- 
ing, for  he  knew  that  what  Jonas  said 
was  true.     Jonas  said,  finally, 

"  However,  we  will  try  to  catch  him ; 
but  I  cannot  promise  that  I  shall  let  you 
keep  him  in  a  cage.  It  will  be  bad 
enough  for  him  to  be  shut  up  all  night  in 
the  box  trap,  but  I  can  pay  him  for  that 
the  next  day  in  corn." 

So  Jonas  brought  down  the  box  trap 
that  night.  It  was  a  long  box,  about  as 
big  as  a  cricket,  with  a  tall,  pointed  back, 
which  looked  like  a  steeple  ;  so  Rollo 
called  it  the  steeple  trap.  It  was  so  made 
that  if  the  squirrel  should  go  in,  and  begin 
to  nibble  some  corn,  which  they  were 
going  to  put  in  there,  it  would  make  the 
cover  come  down  and  shut  him  in.     They 


THE   STEEPLE  TRAP.  39 

fixed  the  trap  on  the  end  of  the  log,  and 
Jonas  observed,  as  he  sat  on  the  log,  that 
he  could  see  the  barn  chamber  window 
through  a  little  opening  among  the  trees. 
Of  course  he  knew  that  from  the  barn 
chamber  window  he  could  see  the  trap, 
though  it  would  be  too  far  off  to  see  it 
plain. 


THE  WAY  TO  LOSE   A  SQUIRREL. 

Early  the  next  morning,  James  came 
over  to  learn  whether  they  had  caught  the 
squirrel ;  and  he  and  Rollo  wanted  Jonas 
to  go  down  with  them  and  see.  Jonas 
said  he  could  not  go  down  then  very  well, 
but  if  he  would  go  and  ask  his  father  to 
lend  him  his  spy-glass,  he  could  tell  with- 
out going  down. 

Now  Jonas  had  been  a  very  faithful 
and  obedient  boy,  ever  since  he  came  to 
live  with  Rollo's  father.  He  had  some 
great  faults  when  he  first  came,  but  he 
had  cured  himself  of  them,  and  he  was 
now  an  excellent  and  trustworthy  boy. 
It  was  a  part  of  his  business  to  take 
care  of  Rollo,  and  they  always  let  him 


40  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

have  what  he  asked  for  from  the  house, 
as  they  knew  it  was  for  some  good  pur- 
pose, and  that  it  would  be  well  taken  care 
of.  So  when  Rollo  went  in  and  asked 
for  the  spy-glass,  and  said  that  Jonas 
wTanted  it,  they  handed  it  down  to  him  at 
once. 

Jonas  took  the  glass,  and  they  all  three 
went  up  into  the  barn  chamber. 

Jonas  opened  the  glass,  and  held  it  up 
to  his  eye.  The  boys  stood  by  looking 
on  silently.     At  length,  Jonas  said, 

"  No,  we  have  not  caught  him." 

"  How  do  you  know  ?"  said  the  boys. 

"  O,  I  can  see  the  trap,  and  it  is  not 
sprung." 

v"  Is  not  sprung?"  said  James,  "what 
do  you  mean  by  sprung  f  " 

"  Shut.  It  is  not  shut.  I  can  see  it 
open,  and  of  course  the  squirrel  is  not 
there." 

"O,  he  may  be  in,"  said  Rollo,  "just 
nibbling  the  corn.     Do  let  us  go  and  see." 

Jonas  smiled,  and  said  he  could  not  go 
then,  but  he  would  look  through  the  spy- 
glass again  towards  noon.  He  then  gave 
the  glass  to  Rollo,  and  it  was  carried  back 
safely  into  the  house. 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  41 

James  soon  after  went  home,  and  Rollo 
sat  down  in  the  parlor  to  his  reading. 
Afterwards  he  came  out,  and  went  to 
building  cities  in  a  sandy  corner  of  the 
garden.  He  was  making  Rome, — for  his 
father  had  told  him  that  Rome  was  built 
on  seven  hills,  and  he  liked  to  make  the 
seven  hills  in  the  sand.  He  made  a  long 
channel  for  an  aqueduct,  and  went  into 
the  house  to  get  a  dipper  of  water  to  fill 
his  aqueduct,  when  he  met  James  coming 
again.  So  they  went  in,  and  got  the  spy- 
glass, and  asked  Jonas  to  go  up  and  look 
again. 

Jonas  adjusted  the  glass,  held  it  up  to 
his  eye,  and  looked  some  time  in  silence, 
and  then  said, — 

"  Yes,  it  is  sprung,  I  believe.  Yes,  it  is 
certainly  sprung." 

"  O,  then  we  have  caught  him,"  said 
the  boys,  capering  about.  "  Let  us  go 
and  see." 

"Perhaps  we  have  caught  him,"  said 
Jonas,  *  but  it  is  not  certain  ;  sometimes 
the  trap  gets  sprung  accidentally.  How- 
ever, you  may  go  and  ask  your  father  if  he 
thinks  it  worth  while  for  me  to  leave  my 
work  long  enough  to  go  down  and  see." 

b*  n* 


42 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 


Rollo  came  back  with  the  permission 
granted,  and  they  all  set  off;  Rollo  and 
James  running  on  eagerly  before. 

When  they  came  to  the  trap,  they  found 
it  shut.  Jonas  took  it  up,  and  tipped  it 
one  way  and  the  other,  and  listened.  He 
heard  something  moving  in  it,  but  did  not 
know  whether  it  was  any  thing  more  than 
the  corn  cob.     Then  he  said  he  would 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  43 

open  the  trap  a  very  little,  and  let  Rollo 
peep  in. 

He  did  so.  Rollo  said  it  looked  all 
dark ;  he  could  not  see  any  thing.  Then 
Jonas  opened  it  a  little  farther,  and  Rollo 
saw  two  little  shining  eyes,  and  presently 
a  nose  smelling  along  at  the  crack. 

4 'Yes,  here  he  is,  here  he  is,"  said 
Rollo  ;  "  look  at  him,  James,  look  at  him  ; 
— see,  see." 

They  all  peeped  at  him,  and  then  Jo- 
nas took  the  box  under  his  arm,  and  they 
returned  home. 

Jonas  told  the  boys  he  was  not  willing 
to  keep  the  squirrel  a  prisoner  very  long, 
but  he  would  try  to  contrive  some  wav  by 
which  they  might  look  at  him.  Now, 
there  was,  in  the  garret,  a  small  fire- 
fender,  which  had  been  laid  aside  as  old 
and  useless.  Jonas  recollected  this,  and 
thought  he  could  fix  up  a  temporary  cage 
with  it.  So  he  took  a  small  box  about  as 
large  as  a  raisin-box,  which  he  found  in 
the  barn,  and  laid  it  down  on  its  side,  so 
as  to  turn  the  open  side  towards  the  trap, 
and  then  moved  the  trap  close  up  to  it. 
He  then  covered  up  all  the  rest  of  the 
open  part  of  the  box  with  shingles,  and 


44  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

asked  James  and  Rollo  to  hold  them  on. 
Then  he  carefully  lifted  up  the  cover  of 
the  trap,  and  made  a  rattling  in  the  back 
part  of  it  with  the  spindle.  This  drove 
the  squirrel  through  out  of  the  trap  into 
the  box. 

When  Jonas  was  sure  that  he  was  in, 
he  took  the  old  fender  and  slid  it  down 
very  cautiously  between  the  trap  and  the 
box,  so  as  to  cover  the  open  part  entirely, 
and  make  a  sort  of  grated  front,  like  a 
cage.  Then  he  took  the  trap  away,  and 
there  the  little  nut-cracker  was,  safely  im- 
prisoned, but  yet  fairly  exposed  to  view. 

That  is,  they  thought  he  was  safely  im- 
prisoned ;  but  he,  little  rogue,  had  no  idea 
of  submitting  without  giving  his  bolts  and 
bars  a  try.  At  first,  he  crept  along,  with 
his  tail  curled  over  his  back,  in  a  corner, 
and  looked  at  the  strange  faces  which 
surrounded  him.  "  Let  us  give  him  a 
little  corn,"  said  Rollo ;  "  perhaps  he  is 
hungry ; "  and  he  was  just  slipping  some 
kernels  in  between  the  wires  of  the  fend- 
er, when  Bunny  sprang  forward,  and, 
with  a  jump  and  a  squeeze,  forced  his 
slender  body  between  two  of  the  wires 
that  were  bent  a  little  apart,  leaped  down 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  45 

upon  the  barn  floor,  ran  along  to  the  cor- 
ner, up  the  post,  and  then  crept  leisurely 
along  on  a  beam.  Presently,  he  stopped, 
and  looked  down,  as  if  considering  what 
to  do  next. 

The  moment  he  escaped,  the  boys  ex- 
claimed, "  O,  catch  him,  catch  him," 
and  were  going  to  run  after  him  ;  but  Jo- 
nas said  that  it  would  do  no  good,  for  they 
could  not  catch  him  again  now,  and  had 
better  stand  still  and  see  what  he  would 
do. 

He  soon  began  to  run  along  on  the 
beam  ;  thence  he  ascended  to  the  scaffold, 
and  made  his  way  towards  an  open  win- 
dow. He  jumped  up  to  the  window  sill, 
and  then  disappeared.  The  boys  all  ran 
around,  outside,  and  were  just  in  time  to 
catch  a  glimpse  of  him,  running  along  on 
the  top  of  the  fence,  down  towards  the 
woods  again. 

"  Do  let  us  run  after  him  and  catch 
him,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Catch  him!  "  said  Jonas,  with  a  laugh, 
"you  might  as  well  catch  the  wind.  No, 
the  only  way  is  to  set  our  trap  for  him 
again.  I  meant  to  let  him  go,  myself; 
but  he  is  not  going  to  slip  through  our 


46  THE   STEEPLE  TRAP. 

fingers  in  that  way,  I  tell  him."  So  Jo- 
nas went  down  that  night  and  set  the  trap 
again. 

For  several  days  after  this,  the  trap  re- 
mained unsprung,  and  the  boys  began  to 
think  that  they  should  never  see  him 
again.  At  last,  however,  one  day,  when 
Rollo  was  playing  in  the  yard,  he  saw 
Jonas  coming  up  out  of  the  woods  with 
the  trap  under  his  arm.  Rollo  ran  to 
meet  him,  and  was  delighted  to  find  that 
the  squirrel  was  caught  again. 


HOW  TO  KEEP  A  SQUIRREL. 

Jonas  contrived  to  tighten  the  wires  of 
the  fender,  by  weaving  in  other  wires  so 
as  to  secure  the  little  prisoner  this  time ; 
and  when  he  was  fairly  in  his  temporary 
cage,  the  boys  were  so  pleased  with  his 
graceful  form  and  beautiful  colors,  espe- 
cially the  elegant  stripes  on  his  back,  that 
they  begged  hard  to  keep  him  ;  and  they 
made  many  earnest  promises  never  to  for- 
get to  feed  him.     Jonas  said,  at  last, 

"  On   the  whole,  I  believe  I  will  let 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  47 

you  keep  him,  but  you  must  do  it  in  my 
way." 

"  What  is  your  way  ?  " 

"  Why,  after  a  day  or  two,  we  must 
carry  him  back  to  his  raspberry-bush,  and 
let  him  go.  But  you  may  give  him  a 
name,  and  call  him  yours,  and  you  can 
carry  some  corn  down  there  now  and  then, 
to  feed  him  with, — and  then  you  will  see 
him,  occasionally,  playing  about  there." 

James  and  Rollo  did  not  exactly  like 
this  plan  at  first,  but  when  they  consid- 
ered how  much  better  the  little  squirrel 
himself  would  like  it,  they  adopted  it ; 
and  Rollo  proposed  that  they  should  tie  a 
string  round  his  neck  for  a  collar,  so  that 
they  might  know  him  again. 

"  I  can  get  mother  to  let  me  have  a 
little  pink  riband,"  said  he,  "  and  that 
will  be  beautiful." 

"-  It  would  be  a  good  plan,"  said  Jonas, 
"  to  mark  him  in  some  way,  but  he  might 
gnaw  off  the  riband." 

"  O  no,"  said  James,  "  he  could  not 
gnaw  any  thing  on  his  own  neck."  Rol- 
lo thought  so  too,  and  they  both  tried  to 
bite  their  own  collar  ribands,  by  way  of 
showing  Jonas  how  impossible  it  was. 


48  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

"  I  don't  know  exactly  what  the  limits 
are  of  a  squirrel's  gnawing,"  said  Jonas. 
"  Perhaps  he  might  tear  it  off  with  his 
claws." 

"  Or  he  might  get  another  squirrel  to 
gnaw  it  off  for  him,"  said  James. 

"  Yes,"  said  Jonas,  "  and  there  is 
another  difficulty.  He  might  be  jumping 
from  one  tree  to  another,  and  catch  his 
collar  in  some  little  branch,  and  so  get 
hung,  without  judge  or  jury." 

"  What  can  we  do  then  ?"  said  Rollo. 

"I  think,"  said  Jonas,  "that  the  best 
plan  would  be  to  dye  the  end  of  his  tail 
black.  That  would  not  hurt  him  any ; 
and  yet,  as  he  always  holds  his  tail  up,  we 
should  see  it,  and  know  him." 

The  boys  both  thought  this  would  be 
excellent,  and  Jonas  said  he  had  some 
black  dye,  which  he  had  made  for  dyeing 
some  wood.  Jonas  was  a  very  ingenious 
boy,  and  used  to  make  little  boxes,  and 
frames,  and  windmills,  with  his  penknife, 
in  the  long  winter  evenings,  and  he  had 
made  this  dye  out  of  vinegar  and  old  nails, 
to  dye  some  of  his  wood  with. 

"  I  am  not  certain,"  said  Jonas,  "  that 
my  dye  will  color  hair ;   I  never  tried  it, 


THE   STEEPLE  TRAP.  49 

except   on   wood.      Do   you   think   that 
black  would  be  a  pretty  color  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  Rollo,  "  black  would  not 
be  a  very  pretty  color,  but  it  would  do. 
Yellow,  and  red,  and  green,  are  pretty 
colors,  but  black,  and  brown,  and  white, 
are  not  pretty  at  all." 

"  I  have  not  got  any  yellow,  or  red,  or 
green,"  said  Jonas.  "  I  don't  know  but 
that  I  have  got  a  little  blue." 

"  O,  blue  would  be  beautiful,"  said 
James. 

Then  Jonas  walked  along  into  the  barn, 
and  Rollo  and  James  followed  him.  He 
went  up  stairs,  and  walked  along  to  the 
farthest  corner,  and  there,  up  on  a  beam, 
were  several  small  bottles  all  in  a  row. 
Jonas  took  down  one,  and  shook  it,  and 
said  that  was  the  blue. 

He  brought  it  down  to  the  cage  ;  Rollo 
went  into  the  house,  and  brought  out  an 
old  bowl,  and  Jonas  prepared  to  pour  out 
the  dye  into  it.  They  then  concluded 
that  they  would  carry  the  whole  appara- 
tus down  into  the  edge  of  the  woods,  and 
perform  the  operation  there  ;  and  then 
the  squirrel,  when  he  was  liberated,  would 
easily  find  his  way  back  to  his  home.     Jo- 

C  5  E 


50  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

nas  carried  down  a  pair  of  thick,  old 
gloves,  to  keep  the  squirrel  from  biting 
him. 

As  they  walked  along,  Rollo  proposed 
that  Jonas  should  dip  the  squirrel's  ears  in 
as  well  as  his  tail;  "because,"  said  he, 
"  we  may  sometimes  see  him  when  he  is 
half  hid  in  the  bushes,  so  that  only  his 
head  is  in  sight. 

"  Besides,"  said  James,  "  it  will  make 
him  look  more  beautiful  if  his  ears  and 
tail  are  both  blue." 

Jonas  did  not  object  to  this,  and  after  a 
short  time,  they  reached  the  edge  of  the 
woods.  They  found  a  little  opening, 
where  the  ground  was  smooth  and  the 
grass  green,  which  seemed  exactly  the 
place  for  them.  So  they  put  down  the 
cage  and  the  bowl  of  dye,  and  Jonas  be- 
gan to  put  on  his  glove. 

"  Now,  boys,"  said  he,  "  you  must  be 
still  as  moonlight  while  I  do  it.  If  you 
speak  to  me,  you  will  put  me  out;  and 
besides,  you  will  frighten  little  Bunny." 

The  boys  promised  not  to  speak  a 
single  word  ;  and  Jonas,  after  unfastening 
the  fender  from  the  front  of  the  box, 
moved  it  along  until  there  was  an  opening 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  51 

large  enough  for  him  to  get  his  hand  in. 
Rollo  and  James  stood  by  silently,  and 
somewhat  anxiously,  waiting  the  result. 

When  the  squirrel  saw  Jonas's  hand 
intruding  itself  into  the  box,  he  retreated 
to  the  farther  corner,  and  curled  himself 
up  there,  with  his  tail  close  down  upon 
his  back.  Jonas  followed  him  with  his 
hand,  saying,  in  a  soothing  tone, 

"  Bunny,  Bunny,  poor  little  Bunny." 

He  reached  him,  at  length,  and  put  his 
hand  very  gently  over  him,  and  slowly  and 
cautiously  drew  him  out. 

Rollo  and  James  gave  a  sort  of  hysteric 
laugh,  and  instantly  clapped  their  hands 
to  their  mouths,  to  suppress  it ;  but  they 
looked  at  one  another  and  at  Jonas  with 
great  delight. 

Jonas  gradually  brought  the  squirrel 
over  the  bowl,  and  prepared  to  dip  his 
ears  into  the  dye.  It  was  a  strange  situa- 
tion for  a  squirrel  to  be  in,  and  he  did  not 
like  it  at  all ;  and  just  at  the  instant  when 
his  ears  were  going  into  the  dye,  he 
twisted  his  head  round,  and  planted  his 
little  fore  teeth  directly  upon  Jonas's 
thumb.  As  might  have  been  supposed, 
teeth   which  were    sharp    and    powerful 


52  THE  STEErLE   TRAP. 

enough  to  go  through  a  walnut  shell, 
would  not  be  likely  to  be  stopped  by  a 
leathern  glove ;  and  Jonas,  startled  by 
the  sudden  cut,  gave  a  twitch  with  his 
hand,  and,  at  the  same  instant,  let  go  of 
the  squirrel.  Bunny  grasped  the  edge 
of  the  bowl  with  his  paws,  and  leaped 
out,  bringing  the  bowl  itself  at  the  same 
instant  over  upon  him,  spattering  him 
all  over  from  head  to  tail  with  the  blue 
dye. 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  53 

The  boys  looked  aghast  for  a  minute ; 
but  when  they  saw  him  racing  off  as  fast 
as  possible,  and  running  up  a  neighboring 
tree,  Jonas  burst  into  a  laugh,  which  the 
other  boys  joined,  and  they  continued  it 
loud  and  long,  till  the  woods  rang  again. 

"  Well,  we  have  spotted  him,  at  any 
rate,"  said  Jonas.  "  We  will  call  him 
Leopard." 

The  boys  then  looked  at  Jonas's  bite, 
and  found  that  it  was  not  a  very  serious 
one.  In  fact,  Jonas  was  a  little  ashamed 
at  having  let  go  for  so  small  a  wound. 
However,  it  was  then  too  late  to  regret  it, 
and  the  boys  returned  slowly  home. 

As  they  were  walking  home,  James 
said  that  the  squirrel's  back  looked  ivet, 
where  the  dye  went  upon  him,  but  he  did 
not  think  it  looked  very  blue. 

"  No,"  said  Jonas,  "  it  does  not  gene- 
rally look  blue  at  first,  but  it  grows  blue 
afterwards.  It  will  be  a  bright  color 
enough  before  you  see  him  again,  I  will 
warrant." 

So  they  walked  along  home  ;  the  fend- 
er was  put  back  in  its  place  in  the  gar- 
ret, the  bowl  in  the  house,  and  the  box  in 
the  barn.     Jonas  soon  forgot  that  he  had 


54  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

been  bitten,  and  the  squirrel,  as  soon  as 
his  back  was  dry,  thought  no  more  of  the 
whole  affair,  but  turned  his  attention  en- 
tirely to  the  business  of  digging  a  hole  to 
store  his  nuts  in  for  the  ensuing  winter. 


FIRES  IN  THE  WOODS. 

All  the  large  trees  that  Jonas  had  felled 
beyond  the  brook,  he  cut  up  into  lengths, 
and  hauled  them  up  into  the  yard,  and 
made  a  great  high  wood-pile  of  them, 
higher  than  his  head ;  but  all  the  branches, 
and  the  small  bushes,  with  all  the  green 
leaves  upon  them,  lay  about  the  ground  in 
confusion.  Rollo  asked  him  what  he  was 
going  to  do  with  them.  He  said,  after 
they  were  dry,  he  should  burn  them  up, 
and  that  they  would  make  a  splendid 
bonfire. 

They  lay  there  drying  a  good  many 
weeks.  The  leaves  turned  yellow  and 
brown,  and  the  little  twigs  and  sticks  be- 
came gradually  dry  and  brittle.  Rollo 
used  to  walk  down  there  often,  to  see 
how  the  drying  went  on,  and  sometimes 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  55 

he  would  bring  up  a  few  of  the  bushes, 
and  put  them  on  the  kitchen  fire,  to  see 
whether  they  were  dry  enough  to  burn. 

At  last,  late  in  the  autumn,  one  cool 
afternoon,  Jonas  asked  Rollo  to  go  down 
with  him  and  help  him  pile  up  the  bushes 
in  heaps,  for  he  was  going  to  burn  them 
that  evening.  Rollo  wanted  very  much 
that  his  cousins  James  and  Lucy  should 
see  the  fires;  and  so  he  asked  his  mother 
to  let  him  go  and  ask  them  to  come  and 
take  tea  there  that  night,  and  go  out  with 
them  in  the  evening  to  the  burning.  She 
consented,  and  Rollo  went.  Lucy  prom- 
ised to  come  just  before  tea-time,  and 
James  came  then,  with  Rollo,  to  help  him 
pile  the  bushes  up. 

Jonas  said  that  the  boys  might  make 
one  little  pile  of  their  own  if  they  wished  ; 
and  told  them  that  they  must  first  make  a 
pile  of  solid  sticks,  and  dry  rotten  logs  as 
large  as  they  could  lift  or  roll,  so  as  to 
have  a  good  solid  fire  underneath,  and 
then  cover  these  up  with  brush  as  high  as 
they  could  pile  it,  so  as  to  make  a  great 
blaze.  He  told  them  also  that  they  must 
make  their  pile  where  it  would  not  burn 
any  of  the  trees  which  he  had  left  stand- 


56  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

ing,  for  he  had  left  a  great  many  of  the 
large  oaks,  and  beeches,  and  pines,  to 
ornament  the  ground  and  make  a  shade. 

Rollo  and  James  decided  to  make  their 
pile  near  the  brook,  between  the  bridge 
which  Jonas  made  of  a  tree,  and  the  old 
wigwam  which  they  had  made  some  time 
before  of  boughs.  They  got  together  a 
great  heap  of  solid  wood,  as  large  pieces 
as  they  could  lift,  and  at  one  end  they  put 
in  a  great  deal  of  birch  bark,  which  they 
stripped  off,  in  great  sheets,  from  an  old, 
decayed  birch  tree,  which  had  been  lying 
on  the  ground  near,  for  half  a  century. 
When  this  was  done,  they  began  to  pile 
on  the  bushes  and  brush,  taking  care  to 
leave  the  end  where  the  birch  bark  was, 
open.  After  they  had  piled  it  up  as  high 
as  they  could  reach,  Rollo  clambered, up 
to  the  top  of  it,  and  James  reached  the 
long  bushes  up  to  him,  and  he  arranged 
them  regularly,  with  the  tops  out.  So 
they  worked  all  the  afternoon,  and  by  the 
time  they  had  got  their  pile  done,  they 
found  that  Jonas  had  thrown  almost  all 
the^  rest  of  the  bushes  into  heaps ;  and 
then  they  went  home  to  tea. 

They  found  Lucy  there,  and  they  were 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  57 

all  so  eager  to  go  to  the  bonfires,  that  they 
did  not  eat  much  supper.  Their  father 
told  them  that,  as  they  had  so  little  ap- 
petite, they  had  better  carry  down  some 
potatoes  and  apples,  and  roast  them  by  the 
fires.  They  thought  this  an  excellent 
plan,  and  ran  into  the  store-room  to  get 
them.  Their  mother  gave  them  a  basket 
to  put  the  potatoes  and  apples  into,  and  a 
little  salt  folded  up  in  a  paper.  They 
were  then  so  impatient  to  go  that  their 
parents  said  they  might  set  ofT  with  Jo- 
nas, and  they  themselves  would  come 
along  very  soon.      <• 

So  Jonas  and  the  three  children  walked 
on.  Rollo  carried  the  basket,  and  James 
a  lantern  ;  and  Jonas,  as  he  went  along, 
made,  with  his  penknife,  some  flat,  wood- 
en spoons,  to  eat  their  potatoes  with. 
They  came  to  the  bridge,  and  all  got  safe- 
ly over,  though  Lucy  was  a  little  afraid  at 
first. 

They  played  around  there  a  few  min- 
utes, as  the,  twilight  was  coming  on  ;  and, 
soon  after,  they  saw  Rollo's  father  and 
mother  coming  down  through  the  trees, 
on  the  other  side  of  the  brook.  They 
stopped  on  that  side,  as  Rollo's  mother  did 


58  THE   STEEPLE  TRAP. 

not  like  to  come  across  the  bridge.  Pret- 
ty soon  they  called  out  to  Jonas  to  light 
the  fires. 

Jonas  then  took  a  large  piece  of  birch 
bark,  and  touched  the  corner  of  it  to  the 
lamp  in  the  lantern,  and  when  it  was  well 
on  fire,  he  laid  it  carefully  on  the  ground. 
The  bark  began  to  blaze  up  very  bright, 
sending  out  volumes  of  thick  smoke  and 
dense  flame,  writhing,  and  curling,  and 
snapping,  as  it  lay  on  the  ground.  The 
light  shone  brightly  on  the  grass  and 
sticks    around. 

"  There,"  said  Jonas,  "  that  will  burn 
some  time ;  now  you  may  light  your  torches 
from  that." 

"  Torches  ?"  said  Rollo,  "  we  have  not 
got  any  torches." 

"  Have  not  you  made  any  torches  ?  O, 
well, — I  will  make  you  some  in  a  min- 
ute." 

So  he  took  out  his  knife,  and  selected 
three  long  slender  stems  of  bushes,  and 
trimmed  them  up,  and  cut  off  the  tops. 
Then  he  made  a  little  split  in  the  top 
end,  and  slipped  in  a  piece  of  birch  bark. 
Then  he  handed  them  to  the  children, 
one  to  each,  and  said,  "  There  are  your 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP  59 

torches  ;  now  you  can  light  your  fires 
without  burning  your  fingers." 

So  they  took  their  torches,  and  held 
the  ends  over  the  flame  of  the  piece  of 
birch  bark,  which,  however,  had  by  this 
time  nearly  burned  out.  Lucy's  took 
firej  but  Rollo's  and  James's  did  not,  at 
first;  and  as  they  pressed  their  torches 
down  more  and  more  to  make  them  light, 
they  only  smothered  what  little  flame  was 
left,  and  put  it  out. 

"  O  dear  me  !  "  said  Rollo. 

Lucy  had  gone  a  little  way  towards 
a  pile ;  but  when  she  saw  what  was  the 
matter,  she  came  back  and  said,  "  Here ; 
— -light  it  by  mine.  So  the  boys  held 
their  torches  over  hers  until  they  were  all 
three  in  a  bright  blaze.  They  then  car- 
ried them  along,  waving  them  in  the  air, 
and  lighting  pile  after  pile,  until  the  whole 
forest;  seemed  to  be  in  a  flame. 

The  children  stood  still  a  few  moments, 
gazing  on  the  fires,  and  on  the  extraordi- 
nary effect  which  the  light  produced  upon 
the  objects  around.  It  was  a  singular 
scene.  Flashing  and  crackling  flames 
rose  high  from  the  heaps  which  were  on 
fire,  and  shed  a  strong  but  unsteady  light 


60  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

on  the  trees,  the  ground,  and  the  banks 
of  the  brook,  and  penetrated  deep  into  the 
forest  on  every  side.  Rollo  called  upon 
James  and  Lucy  to  look  at  his  father  and 
mother,  who  were  across  the  brook  ;  they 
stood  there  under  the  trees,  almost  invisi- 
ble before,  but  now  the  bright  light  shone 
strongly  upon  their  faces  and  forms,  and 
cast  upon  them  a  clear  and  brilliant  illu- 
mination, which  was  strongly  contrasted 
with  the  dark  depths  of  the  forest  behind 
them. 

The  children  were  silent,  and  stood  still 
for  a  few  minutes,  gazing  on  the  scene 
with  feelings  of  admiration  and  awe. 
They  expected  to  have  capered  about  and 
laughed,  but  they  found  that  they  had  no 
disposition  to  do  so.  The  enjoyment  they 
felt  was  not  of  that  kind  which  leads  chil- 
dren to  caper  and  laugh.  They  stood 
still,  and  looked  silently  and  soberly  on 
the  flashing  flames,  the  lurid  light,  the 
bright  red  reflections  on  the  woods,  the 
banks,  and  the  water, — and  on  the  vol- 
umes of  glowing  smoke  and  sparks  which 
ascended  to  the  sky. 

Before  long,  however,  the  light  fuel 
upon  the  top  of  the  piles  was  burned  up, 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  61 

and  there  remained  great  glowing  heaps 
of  embers,  and  logs  of  wood  still  flaming. 
These  the  hoys  began  to  poke  about  with 
long  poles  that  Jonas  had  cut  for  them,  to 
make  them  burn  brighter,  and  to  see  the 
sparks  go  up.  Presently  they  heard  their 
father  calling  them. 

The  boys  all  stopped  to  listen. 

"We  are  going  home,"  said  he;  "we 
shall  take  cold  if  we  stand  still  here.  You 
maj  stay,  however,  with  Jonas,  only  you 
must  not  sit  down." 

So  Rollo's  father  and  mother  turned 
away,  and  walked  along  back  towards  the 
house,  the  light  shining  more  and  more 
faintly  upon  them,  until  they  were  lost 
among  the  trees. 

"Why  do  you  suppose  we  must  not  sit 
down?"  said  Lucy. 

"  Because,"  said  Jonas,  "  they  are 
afraid  you  will  take  cold.  As  long  as  you 
run  about  and  play  around  the  fires,  you 
keep  warm." 

"  O,  then  we  will  run  about  and  play 
fast  enough,"  said  James.  "  I  know  what 
I  am  going  to  do." 

So  he  took  a  large  flat  piece  of  hemlock 
bark,  which  he  found  upon  the  ground, 


62  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

and  began  tearing  off  strips  of  birch  bark 
from  the  old  tree,  and  piling  them  upon  it. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  ? "  said 
Lucy. 

"  O,  I  am  going  to  play  steam-boat  on 
fire,"  said  he ;  and  he  took  up  the  piece 
of  bark  with  the  little  pile  of  combustibles 
upon  it,  and  carried  it  down  to  the  edge 
of  the  brook.  Then  he  went  back  and 
got  his  torch  stick,  and  put  a  fresh  piece 
of  birch  bark  in  the  split  end,  and  light- 
ed it,  and  then  came  back  to  the  brook, 
walking  slowly  lest  his  torch  should  go  out. 

Lucy  held  his  torch  for  him  while  he 
gently  put  his  steam-boat  on  the  water  ; 
and  then  he  lighted  it  with  his  torch,  and 
pushed  it  out.  It  floated  down,  all  blaz- 
ing as  it  was,  to  the  great  delight  of  the 
three  children,  and  astonishment  of  all  the 
little  fishes  in  the  brook,  who  could  not 
imagine  what  the  blazing  wonder  could  be. 

The  children  followed  it  along  down 
the  brook,  and  began  to  pelt  it  with 
stones,  and  soon  got  into  a  high  frolic. 
But  as  they  were  very  careful  not  to  hit 
one  another  with  the  stones,  nor  to  speak 
harshly  or  cross,  they  enjoyed  it  very 
much.     When  at  last  the  steam-boat  was 


THE  STEEPLE  TRAP.  63 

fairly  pelted  to  pieces,  and  the  blackened 
fragments  of  the  birch  bark  were  scattered 
over  the  water,  and  floating  away  down 
the  stream,  they  began  to  think  of  roast- 
ing their  corn  and  potatoes,  which  they  did 
very  successfully  over  the  remains  of  the 
fires.  When  they  had  nearly  finished  eat- 
ing, Rollo  suddenly  exclaimed, — 

"  O,  I  will  tell  you  what  we  will  do ; 
we  will  go  and  set  our  wigwam  on  fire  ! " 

Rollo  pointed  to  the  wigwam.  James 
and  Lucy  looked,  and  observed  that  it  had 
been  dried  and  browned  in  the  sun,  and 
Rollo  thought  it  was  no  longer  good  for 
any  thing  as  a  wigwam,  but  would  make 
a  capital  bonfire.  He  proposed  that  they 
should  all  go  into  it  and  sit  down,  and  put 
a  torch  near  the  side  so  as  to  set  it  on  fire, 
as  if  accidentally.  They  would  go  on 
talking  as  if  they  did  not  see  it,  and  when 
the  flames  burst  out,  they  would  jump  up 
and  run  out,  crying,  Fire !  as  people  do 
when  their  houses  get  on  fire. 

Lucy  said  she  should  not  like  to  do 
that.  She  should  be  afraid,  she  said.  The 
sparks  would  fall  down  upon  her  and  burn 
her.  So  the  boys  gave  that  plan  up.  Then 
James  proposed  that  they  should  make  be- 
lieve that  they  were  savages,  going  to  set 


64  THE  STEEPLE  TRAP. 

fire  to  a  town.  The  wigwam  was  to  be  the 
town.  They  would  take  their  torches,  and 
all  go  and  set  it  on  fire  in  several  places. 

"  But,  then,  /  could  not  help,"  said  Lu- 
cy, "  for  women  do  not  go  to  war." 

"  O  yes,  they  do,  if  they- are  savages," 
said  James.  "  We  play  that  we  are  sav- 
ages, you  see." 

So  it  was  all  agreed  to.  They  lighted 
their  torches,  and  marched  along,  waving 
them  in  the  air,  until  they  came  to  the 
wigwam,  and  then  they  danced  around  it, 
singing  and  shouting  as  they  set  it  on  fire 
in  many  places  on  all  sides.  The  flames 
spread  rapidly,  and  flashed  up  high  into  the 
air,  and  soon  there  was  nothing  left  of 
the  poor  wigwam  but  a  few  smoking  and 
blackened  sticks  lying  on  the  ground. 

The  children  then  crept  along  over  the 
bridge,  and  went  towards  home.  There 
were  still  great  beds  of  burning  embers 
remaining,  and  in  some  places  the  remains 
of  logs  and  stumps  were  blazing  brightly. 
And  that  night,  when  Rollo  went  to  bed, 
he  lay  looking  out  the  window  which  was 
towards  the  woods,  and  saw  the  light  still 
shining  among  the  trees,  and  the  smoke 
slowly  rising  from  the  fires,  and  floating 
away  through  the  air. 


THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

OR, 

LUCY'S  VISIT. 


1  The  way  to  ask  a  favor."— p.  70. 


THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON ; 


OR, 

LUCY'S    VISIT 


"A  ROUND  RAINBOW." 

About  six  miles  from  the  house  where 
Rollo  lived,  there  was  a  mountain  called 
Benalgon,  which  was  famous  for  bears 
and  blueberries.  There  were  no  bears  on 
it,  but  there  were  plenty  of  blueberries. 
The  reason  why  it  was  so  famous  for 
bears,  when  in  fact  there  were  none  there, 
was  because  the  boys  and  girls  that  went 
there  for  blueberries  every  year,  used  to 
see  black  logs  and  stumps  among  the  trees 
and  bushes  of  the  mountain,  and  they 
would  run  away  very  hastily,  and  insist 
upon  it,  when  they  got  down  the  moun- 
tain, that  they  had  seen  a  bear. 

Now,  Rollo's  father  and  mother,  togeth- 


i 


68     THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

er  with  his  uncle  George,  formed  a  plan 
for  going  up  this  mountain  after  bluebei- 
ries,  and  they  were  going  to  take  Rollo 
and  his  cousin  Lucy  with  them.  Uncle 
George  and  cousin  Lucy  were  to  come  in 
a  chaise  to  Rollo's  house  immediately  after 
breakfast,  and  Rollo  was  to  ride  with  them  ; 
and  his  father  and  mother  were  to  go  in 
another  chaise. 

Rollo  got  his  little  basket  to  pick  his 
blueberries  in,  all  ready  the  night  before, 
and  he  got  a  string  to  tie  around  his  neck, 
intending  to  hang  his  basket  upon  it,  so 
that  he  could  have  both  his  hands  at  liber- 
ty, and  pick  faster.  He  also  thought  he 
would  take  all  the  heavy  things  out  of  his 
pocket,  so  that  he  could  run  the  faster,  in 
case  he  should  see  any  bears.  He  put 
them  all  on  a  window  in  the  shed.  The 
things  were  a  knife,  a  piece  of  chalk,  two 
white  pebble  stones,  and  a  plummet. 
When  he  got  them  all  out,  he  asked  Jo- 
nas, who  was  splitting  wood  in  the  shed, 
if  he  would  not  take  care  of  them  for  him, 
till  he  came  back. 

"Why,  yes,"  said  Jonas,  "  I  will  take 
care  of  them  if  you  wish ;  but  what  are 
you  going  to  leave  them  for  ?  " 


OR,  LUCY'S  VISIT.  69 

"  O,  so  that  I  can  run  faster,"  said 
Rollo. 

u  Run  faster  ?  I  do  not  think  you  will 
run  much,  up  old  Benalgon,  unless  he 
holds  his  back  down  lower  than  when  I 
went  up." 

Rollo  did  not  mean  that  he  was  going 
to  run  up  the  mountain,  but  he  did  not  ex- 
plain what  he  did  mean,  for  he  thought  that 
Jonas  would  laugh  at  him,  if  he  told  him 
he  wTas  afraid  of  the  bears.     So  he  said, 

"  Jonas,  don't  you  wish  you  were  going 
with  us  ?  " 

"  I  should  like  it  well  enough,  but  I 
must  stay  at  home  and  mind  my  work." 

"  I  wish  you  could  go.  I  will  go  and 
ask  my  father  if  he  will  not  let  you." 

Rollo  ran  into  the  house  with  great 
haste  and  eagerness,  leaving  all  the  doors 
open,  and  calling  out,  "Father,  father,"  as 
soon  as  he  had  begun  to  open  the  parlor 
door. 

"  Father,  father,"  said  he,  running  up 
to  him,  "  I  wish  you  would  let  Jonas  go 
with  us  to-morrow." 

Now,  Rollo's  father  had  come  home  but 
a  short  time  before,  and  was  just  seated 
quietly  in  his  arm-chair,  reading  a  news- 


70    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

paper,  and  Rollo  came  up  to  him,  pulling 
down  the  paper  with  his  hands,  and  look- 
ing up  into  his  father's  face,  so  as  to  stop 
his  reading  at  once.  Heedless  boys  very 
often  come  to  ask  favors  in  this  way.* 

His  father  gently  moved  him  back  and 
said, 

"  No,  my  son,  it  is  not  convenient  for 
Jonas  to  go  to-morrow.  Besides,  I  am 
busy  now,  and  cannot  talk  with  you ; — 
you  must  go  away." 

Rollo  turned  away  disappointed,  and 
went  slowly  back  through  the  kitchen. 
His  mother,  who  was  there,  and  who  heard 
all  that  passed,  as  the  doors  were  open, 
said  to  him,  as  he  walked  by  her,  "  What 
a  foolish  way  that  was  to  ask  him,  Rollo ! 
You  might  have  known  it  would  have 
done  no  good." 

Rollo  did  not  answer,  but  he  went  and 
sat  down  on  the  step  of  the  door,  and  was 
just  beginning  to  think  what  the  foolish- 
ness was  in  his  way  of  asking  his  father, 
when  a  little  bird  came  hopping  along  in 
the  yard.  He  ran  in  to  ask  his  mother  to 
give  him  some  milk  to  feed  the  bird  with. 
She  smiled,  and  told  him  milk  was  good  for 

*  See  picture  at  the  beginning  of  this  story. 


or,  L'ucrs  VISIT.  71 

kittens,  but  not  for  birds ;  and  she  gave 
him  some  crumbs  of  bread.  Rollo  threw 
the  crumbs  out,  but  they  only  frightened 
the  little  thing  away. 

That  night,  when  Rollo  went  to  bed, 
his  father  said,  that  when  he  was  all 
ready,  he  would  come  up  and  see  him. 
When  he  came  into  his  chamber,  Rollo 
called  out  to  him, 

"  O,  father,  look  out  the  window,  and 
see  what  a  beautiful  ring  there  is  round 
the  moon." 

"  So  there  is,"  said  his  father;  "  I  am 
rather  sorry  to  see  that." 

"  Sorry,  father !  why  ?  It  is  beautiful, 
I  think."       . 

"  It  does  look  pretty,  but  it  is  a  sign  of 
rain  to-morrow. 

"  Of  rain  ?  O  no,  father ;  it  is  a  kind 
of  a  rainbow.  It  is  a  round  rainbow.  I 
am  sure  it  will  be  pleasant  to-morrow." 

"Very  well,"  said  his  father,  "we  shall 
see  in  the  morning."  Then  he  sat  down 
on  Rollo's  bed-side  some  time,  talking 
with  him  on  various  subjects,  and  then 
heard  him  say  his  prayers.  At  length  he 
took  the  light,  and  bade  Rollo  good  night. 

Rollo's  eye  caught  another  view  of  the 


72    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

moon  as  his  father  was  going,  and  he 
said, 

"  O,  father,  just  look  at  the  moon  once 
more  ;  that  is  a  rainbow ;  I  see  the  colors. 
I  expect  it  will  grow  into  a  large  one,  such 
as  jou  told  me  was  a  sign  of  fair  weather. 
I  will  watch  it." 

"  Yes,"  said  his  father,  "  you  can  watch 
it  as  you  go  to  sleep." 

So  Rollo  laid  his  face  upon  his  pillow 
in  such  a  way  that  he  could  see  the  moon 
through  the  window  ;  and  he  began  to 
watch  the  bright  circle  around  it,  but 
before  it  grew  any  bigger,  he  was  fast 
asleep. 


WHO  KNOWS  BEST,  A  LITTLE  BOY  OR  HIS 
FATHER? 

The  next  morning,  Rollo  awoke  early, 
and  he  was  very  much  pleased  to  see,  as 
soon  as  he  opened  his  eyes,  that  the  sun 
was  shining  in  at  the  windows.  He  was 
not  only  pleased  to  find  that  the  prospect 
was  so  good  for  a  pleasant  ride,  but  his 
vanity  was  gratified  at  the  thought  that  it 
had  turned  out  that  he  knew  better  about 


visit.  73 

the  weather  than  his  father.  He  began 
to  dress  himself,  as  far  as  he  could  with* 
out  help,  and  was  preparing  to  hasten 
down  to  his  father,  to  tell  him  that  it  was 
going  to  be  a  pleasant  day.  When  he 
was  nearly  dressed,  he  was  surprised  to 
observe  that  the  bright  sunlight  on  the 
wall  was  gradually  fading  away,  and  at 
length  it  wholly  disappeared.  He  went 
to  look  out  the  window  to  see  what  was 
the  cause.  He  found  that  there  was  a 
broad  expanse  of  dark  cloud  covering  the 
eastern  sky,  excepting  a  narrow  strip 
quite  low  down,  near  the  horizon.  When 
the  sun  first  rose,  it  shone  brightly  through 
this  narrow  zone  of  clear  sky ;  but  now  it 
had  ascended  a  little  higher,  and  gone  be- 
hind the  cloud. 

"  Never  mind,"  said  Rollo  to  himself. 
"  The  cloud  is  not  so  very  large  after  all, 
and  the  sun  will  come  out  again  above  it 
when  it  gets  up  a  little  higher." 

Rollo  came  down  to  breakfast,  and  he 
went  out  into  the  yard  every  two  or  three 
minutes,  to  look  at  the  sky.  The  cloud 
seemed  to  extend,  so  that  the  sun  did  not 
come  out  of  it,  as  he  expected,  but  still 
he  thought  it  was  going  to  be  pleasant. 
d  q 


74    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOONj 

Children  generally  think  it  is  going  to 
be  pleasant,  whenever  they  want  to  go 
away. 

His  father  thought  it  was  probably  go- 
ing to  rain,  and  that  at  any  rate  it  was  very 
doubtful  whether  Uncle  George  would 
come.  However,  he  said  they  should  soon 
see,  and,  true  enough,  just  as  they  were 
rising  from  the  breakfast  table,  a  chaise 
drove  up  to  the  door,  and  out  jumped 
Uncle  George  and  cousin  Lucy. 

Lucy  was  a  very  pleasant  little  blue- 
eyed  girl,  two  or  three  years  older  than 
Rollo.  She  had  a  small  tin  pail  in  her 
hand,  with  a  cover  upon  it. 

"  Good  morning,  Rollo,"  said  she. 
"  Have  you  got  your  basket  ready  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  but  I  am  afraid  it 
is  going  to  rain." 

While  the  children  were  saying  this, 
Uncle  George  said  to  Rollo's  father, 

"  I  suppose  we  shall  have  to  give  up 
our  expedition  to-day.  I  am  in  hopes  we 
are  going  to  have  some  rain." 

"  In  hopes"  thought  Rollo ;  "  that  is 
very  strange  when  we  want  to  go  a  blue- 
berrying." 

Rollo's   father    and    mother    and    his 


OR,  LUCYS  VISIT.  75 

uncle  looked  at  the  clouds  all  around. 
They  concluded  that  there  was  every  ap- 
pearance of  rain,  and  that  it  would  be  best 
to  postpone  their  excursion,  and  then 
went  into  the  house.  Rollo  was  very 
confident  it  would  not  rain,  and  was  very 
eager  to  have  them  go.  He  asked  Lucy 
if  she  did  not  think  it  was  going  to  be 
pleasant,  but  Lucy  was  more  modest  and 
reasonable  than  he  was,  and  said  that  she 
did  not  know  ;  she  could  not  judge  of  the 
weather  so  well  as  her  father. 

Rollo  began  by  this  time  to  be  consid- 
erably out  of  humor.  He  said  he  knew 
it  was  not  going  to  rain,  and  he  did  not 
see  why  they  might  not  go.  He  did  not 
believe  it  would  rain  a  drop  all  day. 

Lucy  just  then  pointed  down  to  a  little 
dark  spot  on  the  stone  step  of  the  door, 
where  a  drop  had  just  fallen,  and  asked 
Rollo  what  he  called  that. 

"  And  that, — and  that, — and  that,"  said 
she,  pointing  to  several  other  drops. 

Rollo  at  first  insisted  that  that  was  not 
rain,  but  some  little  spots  on  the  stone. 

Then  Lucy  reached  out  her  hand  and 
said, 

"  Hold  out  your  hand  so,  Rollo,  and  you 


76    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

will  feel  the  drops  coming  down  out  of  the 
sky." 

Rollo  held  out  his  hand  a  moment,  but 
then  immediately  withdrew  it,  saying,  im- 
patiently, that  he  did  not  care  ;  it  was  not 
rain  ;  at  any  rate  it  was  only  a  little  sprink- 
ling. 

Lucy  observed  that  Rollo  was  getting 
very  much  out  of  humor,  and  she  tried  to 
please  him  by  saying, 

"  Rollo,  I  would  not  mind.  If  it  does 
rain,  I  will  ask  my  father  to  let  me  stay 
and  play  with  you  to-day,  and  we  can 
have  a  fine  time  up  in  your  little  room." 

"No,  we  cannot,"  said  Rollo ;  "and  be-; 
sides,  they  will  not  let  you  stay,  I  know. 
I  went  yesterday  to  ask  my  father  to  let 
Jonas  go  with  us  to-day,  and  he  would 
not." 

It  was  certainly  very  unreasonable  for 
Rollo  to  imagine  that  his  father  and  uncle 
would  be  unwilling  to  have  Lucy  stay  just 
because  it  had  not  been  convenient  to  let 
Jonas  go  with  them.  But  when  children 
are  out.  of  humor,  they  are  always  very 
unreasonable. 

"  Why  would  not  he  let  Jonas  go  ?  " 
asked  Lucy. 


OR,  LUCY'S  VISIT.  77 

"  I  do  not  know.  Mother  said  it  was  be- 
cause I  did  not  ask  him  right." 

"  How  did  you  ask  him  ?  " 

"  O,  I  interrupted  him.  He  was  read- 
ing." 

"  O,  that  is  not  the  way.  I  never  inter- 
rupt my  father  if  I  want  to  ask  him  any 
thing." 

"  Suppose  he  is  busy,  and  you  want  to 
know  that  very  minute  ;  what  do  you  do  ?  " 

"  I  will  show  you.  Come  with  me  and 
I  will  ask  him  to  let  me  stay  with  you  to- 
day." 

So  Lucy  and  Rollo  walked  in.  When 
they  came  to  the  parlor  door,  they  saw 
that  their  parents  were  sitting  on  the  sofa, 
talking  about  other  things. 

Rollo  stopped  at  the  door,  but  Lucy 
went  in  gently.  She  walked  up  to  her 
father's  side,  and  stood  there  still. 

Her  father  took  no  notice  of  her  at  first, 
but  went  on  talking  with  Rollo's  father. 
Lucy  stood  very  patiently  until,  after  a  few 
minutes,  her  father  stopped  talking,  and 
said, 

"  Lucy,  my  dear,  do  you  want  to  speak 
to  me  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Lucy,  "  I  wanted  to 


78    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

ask  you  if  you  were  willing  to  let  me  stay 
here  to-day  and  play  with  Rollo,  if  you  do 
not  go  to  the  mountain." 

"  I  do  not  know,"  said  her  father,  hesi- 
tating, and  patting  Lucy  on  the  head — 
"  that  is  a  new  idea  ;  however,  I  believe 
I  have  no  objection." 

Lucy  ran  back  joyfully  to  Rollo,  and 
after  a  short  time,  her  father  went  home. 
Rollo,  however,  did  not  feel  in  any  better 
humor,  and  all  Lucy's  endeavors  to  en- 
gage him  in  some  amusement,  failed.  She 
proposed  building  with  bricks,  or  going 
up  into  his  little  room,  and  drawing  pic- 
tures on  their  slates,  or  getting  his  story- 
books out  and  reading  stories,  and  various 
other  things,  but  Rollo  would  not  be 
pleased. 

Rollo  ought,  now,  when  he  found  that 
he  must  be  disappointed  about  his  ride, 
to  have  immediately  banished  it  from  his 
mind  altogether,  and  turned  his  thoughts 
to  other  pleasures  ;  but  like  all  ill-humored 
people,  he  would  keep  thinking  and  talk- 
ing, all  the  time,  about  the  thing  which 
caused  his  ill-humor.  So  he  sat  in  a  large 
back  entry,  where  he  and  Lucy  were, 
looking  out  at  the  door,  and  saying  a  great 


OR,  LUCY'S  VISIT.  79 

many  ill-natured  things  about  the  weather, 
and  his  father's  giving  up  the  ride  just  for 
a  little  sprinkling  of  rain  that  would  not 
last  half  an  hour.  He  said  it  was  a  shame, 
too,  for  it  to  rain  that  day,  just  because 
he  was  going  to  ride. 

Just  then,  his  father  spoke  to  him  from 
the  window,  and  called  him  in. 

He  and  Lucy  went  in  together  into  the 
parlor. 

"  Rollo,"  said  his  father,  "  did  you  know 
you  were  doing  very  wrong  ?  " 

Rollo  felt  a  little  guilty,  but  he  said 
rather  faintly,  "  No,  sir,  I  was  not  doing 
any  thing." 

"  You  are  committing  a  great  many 
sins,  all  at  once." 

Rollo  was  silent.  He  knew  his  father 
meant  sins  of  the  heart. 

"  Your  heart  is  in  a  very  wicked  state. 
You  are  under  the  dominion  of  some  of  the 
Worst  of  feelings  ;  you  are  self-conceited, 
ungrateful,  undutiful,  unjust,  selfish,  and," 
he  added  in  a  lower  and  more  solemn 
tone,  "  even  impious." 

Rollo  thought  that  these  were  heavy 
charges  to  bring  upon  him  ;  but  his  fathei 


80    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

spoke  calmly  and  kindly,  and  he  knew 
that  he  could  easily  show  that  what  he 
said  was  true. 

u  You  are  self-conceited — vainly  imagin- 
ing that  you,  a  little  boy  of  seven  years  old, 
can  judge  better  than  your  father  and 
mother,  and  obstinately  persisting  in  your 
opinion  that  it  is  not  going  to  rain,  when 
the  rain  has  actually  commenced,  and  is 
falling  faster  and  faster.  You  are  ungrate- 
ful, to  speak  reproachfully  of  me,  and  give 
me  pain,  by  your  ill-will,  when  I  have 
been  planning  this  excursion,  in  a  great 
degree,  for  your  enjoyment,  and  only  give 
it  up  because  I  am  absolutely  compelled 
to  do  it  by  a  storm ;  undutiful,  in  show- 
ing such  a  repining,  unsubmissive  spirit 
towards  your  father ;  unjust  in  making 
Lucy  and  all  of  us  suffer,  because  you  are 
unwilling  to  submit  to  these  circumstances 
that  we  cannot  control ;  selfish,  in  being 
unwilling  that  it  should  rain  and  interfere 
with  your  ride,  when  you  know  that  rain 
is  so  much  wanted  in  all  the  fields,  all  over 
the  country ;  and,  what  is  worse  than  all, 
impious,  in  openly  rebelling  against  God, 
and   censuring   the  arrangements  of  his 


OR,  LUCY'S   VISIT.  81 

providence,  and  pretending  to  think  that 
they  are  made  just  to  trouble  you." 

When  he  had  said  this,  he  paused  to 
hear  what  Rollo  would  say.  He  thought 
that  if  he  was  convinced  of  his  sin,  and 
really  penitent,  he  would  acknowledge 
that  he  was  wrong,  or  at  least  be  silent ; 
— but  that  if,  on  the  other  hand,  he  were 
still  unsubdued,  he  would  go  to  making 
excuses. 

After  a  moment's  pause,  Rollo  said, — 
"  I  did  not  know  that  there  was  need  of 
rain  in  the  fields." 

"  Did  not  you  ?  "  said  his  father.  "  Did 
not  you  know  that  the  ground  was  very 
dry,  and  that,  unless  we  have  rain  soon, 
the  crops  will  suffer  very  much  ?  " 

"  No,  sir,"  said  Rollo. 

"  It  is  so,"  said  his  father  ;  "  and  this 
rain,  which  you  are  so  unwilling  to  have 
descend,  is  going  down  into  the  ground 
all  over  the  country,  and  into  the  roots  of 
all  the  plants  growing  in  the  fields,  carry- 
ing in  the  nourishment  which  will  swell 
out  all  the  corn  and  grain,  and  apples  and 
pears.  In  a  few  days  there  will  be  thou- 
sands and  thousands  of  dollars'  worth  of 
6 


82    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

fruit  and  food  more  than  there  would  have 
been  without  this  rain  ;  and  yet  you  are 
very  unwilling  to  have  it  come,  because 
you  want  to  go  and  get  a  few  blueberries  !" 

Rollo  was  confounded,  and  had  not  a 
word  to  say. 

"Now,  Rollo,"  continued  his  father,  "all 
the  rest  of  us  are  disposed  to  be  good 
humored,  and  to  acquiesce  in  God's  decis- 
ion, and  try  to  have  a  happy  day  at  home ; 
and  we  cannot  have  it  spoiled  by  your 
wicked  repinings.  So  you  must  go  away 
by  yourself,  until  you  feel  willing  to  sub- 
mit pleasantly  and  with  good  humor. 
Then  you  may  come  back,  but  be  sure 
not  to  come  back  before." 


REPENTANCE. 

Now  there  was  in  Rollo's  house  a  small 
back  garret,  over  a  part  of  the  kitchen 
chamber,  which  had  one  small  window  in 
it,  looking  out  into  the  garden.  This  gar- 
ret was  not  used,  and  Rollo's  father  had 
put  a  little  rocking-chair  there,  and  a  small 
table  with  a  Bible  on  it,  and  hung  some 


OR,  LUCY'S  VISIT.  83 

old  maps  about  it,  so  as  to  make  it  as 
pleasant  a  little  place  as  he  could  ;  and 
there  he  used  to  send  Rollo  when  he  had 
done  any  thing  very  wrong,  or  when  he 
was  sullen  and  ill  natured,  that  he  might 
reflect  in  solitude,  and  either  return  a 
good  boy,  or  else  stay  where  his  bad  feel- 
ings would  not  trouble  or  injure  others. 
His  father  had  put  in  marks,  too,  at  sev- 
eral places  in  the  Bible,  where  he  thought 
it  would  be  well  for  him  to  read  at  such 
times ;  as  he  said  that  reading  suitable 
passages  in  the  Bible  would  be  more  likely 
to  bring  him  to  repentance,  than  any  other 
book. 

Rollo  knew  that  when  his  father  told 
him  to  go  away  by  himself,  he  meant  for 
him  to  go  into  this  back  garret.  So  he 
turned  round  and  walked  out  of  the  room. 
As  he  passed  up  the  back  stairs,  the  kitten 
came  frisking  around  him,  but  he  had  no 
heart  to  play  with  her,  and  walked  on. 
He  then  turned  and  went  up  the  narrow, 
steep  stairs  that  led  to  the  garret ;  they 
were  rather  more  like  a  ladder  than  like 
stairs.  Rollo  ascended  them,  and  then 
sat  down  in  the  little  rocking-chair.  The 
rain  was  beating  against  the  windows,  and 


84    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

pattering  on  the  roof  which  was  just 
over  his  head. 


It  is  sometimes  but  a  little  thing  which 
turns  the  whole  current  of  the  thoughts 
and  feelings.  In  Rollo's  case,  at  this  time, 
it  was  but  a' drop  of  water.  For  after 
having  sat  some  time  in  his  chair,  his  heart 
remaining  pretty  nearly  the  same,  a  drop 
of  water,  which,  somehow  or  other,  con- 


OR,  LUCY'S  VISIT.  85 

trived  to  get  through  some  crevice  in  the 
boards  and  shingles  over  his  head,  fell  ex- 
actly into  the  back  of  his  neck.  The  first 
feeling  it  occasioned  was  an  additional 
emotion  of  impatience  and  fretfulness. 
But  he  next  began  to  think  how  unreason- 
able and  wicked  it  was  to  make  all  that 
difficulty,  just  because  his  father  was  pre- 
venting his  going  out  to  stay  all  day  in  the 
rain,  when  a  single  drop  falling  upon  him 
vexed  and  irritated  him. 

He  also  looked  out  of  the  window  tow- 
ards the  garden,  and  the  dry  ground, 
and  all  the  trees  and  garden  vegetables, 
seemed  to  be  drinking  in  the  rain  with  de- 
light. That  made  him  think  of  the  vast 
amount  of  good  the  rain  was  doing,  and 
he  saw  his  own  selfishness  in  a  striking 
point  of  view.  In  a  word  Rollo  was  now 
beginning  to  be  really  penitent.  The  tears 
came  into  his  eyes;  but  they  were  tears 
of  real  sorrow  for  sin,  not  of  vexation  and 
anger. 

He  took  up  his  little  Bible,  to  read  one 
of  the  passages,  as  his  father  had  advised 
him.  He  happened  to  open  at  a  mark 
which  his  father  had  put  in  at  the  para- 
ble of  the  prodigal  son.     The  first  verse 


86    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOONj 

which  his  eye  fell  upon,  was  the  verse,  "  I 
will  arise  and  go  to  my  father."  Rollo 
thought  that  that  was  exactly  the  thing  for 
him  to  do — to  go  and  confess  his  fault  to 
his  father. 

So  he  laid  down  his  little  Bible,  wiped 
the  tears  from  his  eyes,  and  went  down 
stairs.  He  met  his  father  in  the  entry. 
He  went  up  to  him,  and  took  his  hand,  and 
said, 

"  Father,  I  am  really  very  sorry  I  have 
been  so  naughty ;  I  will  try  to  be  a  good 
boy  now." 

His  father  stooped  down  and  kissed 
him.  "  I  am  very  glad  to  hear  it,  Rollo," 
said  he.  "  Now  you  may  go  and  find 
Lucy.  I  believe  she  is  up  in  your 
mother's  chamber." 

Rollo  went  off  quite  happy  in  pursuit  of 
Lucy.  He  found  her  sitting  on  a  cricket 
in  his  mother's  room,  looking  over  a  little 
picture-book.  Rollo  ran  laughing  up  to 
her,  and  said, 

"  What  have  you  got,  Lucy  ?  " 

"  One  of  your  little  picture-books. 
Will  you  lend  it  to  me  to  carry  home  ?  " 

Rollo  said  he  would,  and  then  they  be- 
gan to  talk  about  what  they  should  do. 


OR,  LUCY  S  VISIT.  87 

It  rained  very  fast,  and  they  could  not  go 
out  of  doors  ;  and,  after  proposing  several 
things,  which,  however,  neither  of  them 
seemed  to  like,  they  turned  to  Rollo's 
mother,  and  asked  her  what  they  had  bet- 
ter do. 

"  I  always  find,"  said  his  mother,  "  that 
when  I  am  disappointed  of  any  pleasure, 
it  is  best  not  to  try  to  find  any  other 
pleasure  in  its  place,  but  to  turn  to  dutyP 

The  children  did  not  understand  this 
very  well,  and  they  were  silent. 

"  What  I  mean,"  she  continued,  "  is 
this :  When  we  have  just  been  disap- 
pointed of  any  pleasure  which  we  had  set 
our  hearts  upon,  it  is  very  difficult  to  find 
any  thing  else  that  we  can  have  in  its 
place,  that  will  look  as  pleasant  as  the  one 
we  had  lost.  You  see  that  you  are  not 
satisfied  with  any  thing  you  propose  to 
one  another.  Now,  I  find  that  the  best 
Way,  in  such  cases,  is  to  give  up  pleasure 
altogether,  and  turn  to  some  duty  ;  and 
after  performing  the  duty  a  short  time, 
peace  and  satisfaction  return  to  the  mind 
again,  and  we  get  over  the  effects  of  the 
disappointment  in  the  quickest  and  pleas- 
an  test  way." 


88    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

Rollo  and  Lucy  looked  at  one  another 
rather  soberly.  They  did  not  seem 
to  know  what  to  say. 

"  I  presume,  however,  you  will  not  do 
this,"  continued  his  mother. 

"  Why  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"Because,"  said  his  mother,  "  it  re- 
quires a  good  deal  of  resolution,  at  first,  to 
turn  to  duty  when  you  have  just  been 
setting  your  heart  on  pleasure" 

"  O,  we  have  got  resolution  enough," 
said  Rollo. 

"  What  duty  do  you  think  we  had  bet- 
ter do  ?  "  asked  Lucy. 

"  If  I  were  you,"  replied  Rollo's  mother, 
"  I  should  first  of  all  sit  down  and  have  a 
good  reading  lesson." 

Rollo  and  Lucy  hesitated  a  little,  but 
they  concluded  to  take  their  mother's  ad- 
vice at  last,  and  went  to  Rollo's  little  li- 
brary, and  chose  a  book,  and  then  went 
down  to  the  back  entry,  and  sat  down 
there,  on  a  long  cricket,  and  began  to 
read. 

At  first,  it  was  rather  hard  to  do  it,  for 
it  did  not  look  very  pleasant  to  either  of 
them  to  sit  down  and  read,  just  at  the  time 
when  they  expected  to  be  gathering  blue- 


OR,  LUCY'S  VISIT.  89 

berries  on  the  mountain.  Rollo  said, 
when  they  were  opening  the  book  and 
finding  the  place,  that,  if  they  had  gone, 
they  should,  by  that  time,  have  just  about 
arrived  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "  but  we  must  not 
think  of  that  now.  Besides,  just  see  how 
it  rains.  It  would  be  a  fine  time  now  to 
go  up  a  mountain,  wouldn't  it  ?  " 

Rollo  looked  out  of  the  open  door,  and 
saw  the  rain  pouring  down  into  the  yard, 
and  felt  again  ashamed  to  recollect  how  he 
had  insisted  that  it  was  not  going  to  rain. 

Lucy  said  it  was  beautiful  to  see  it  pour- 
ing down  so  fast.  "  Look,"  said  she ;  "  how 
it  streams  down  from  the  spout  at  the  cor- 
ner of  the  barn  ! " 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  and  see  that  little 
pond  out  by  the  garden  gate.  How  it  is 
all  full  of  little  bubbles !  It  will  be  a  beau- 
tiful pond  for  me  to  sail  boats  in,  when 
the  rain  is  over.  I  can  make  paper-boats 
and  pea  boats !  " 

.  "  Pea  boats  ?  "  said  Lucy ;  "  what  are 
pea-boats  ?" 

"  O !  they  are  beautiful  little  boats," 
said  he.  Jonas  showed  me  how  to  make 
them.     We  take  a  pea-pod,  a  good  large 


90    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

full  pea-pod,  and  shave  off  the  top  from 
one  end  to  the  other,  and  then  take  out 
the  peas,  and  it  makes  a  beautiful  little 
boat.  I  wish  we  had  some  ;  I  could 
show  you." 

"  Let  us  make  some  when  we  have 
done  reading,  and  sail  them.  Only  that 
pond  will  all  go  away  when  the  rain  is 
over." 

"  O  no,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  will  put  some 
ground  all  around  it,  and  then  the  water 
cannot  run  away." 

"  Yes,  but  it  will  soak  down  into  the 
ground." 

"Will  it?"  said  Rollo.  "Well,  we 
can  sail  our  boats  on  it  a  little  while  be- 
fore it  is  gone." 

"  But  it  is  so  wet,"  said  Lucy,  "  we 
cannot  go  out  to  get  any  pea-pods." 

"  I  did  not  think  of  that,"  said  Rollo. 
"  Perhaps  Jonas  could  get  some  for  us, 
with  an  umbrella." 

"  /  could  go  with  an  umbrella,"  said 
Lucy,  "just  as  well  as  not." 

The  children  saw  an  umbrella  behind 
the  door,  and  they  thought  they  would  go 
both  together,  and  they  actually  laid  down 
their  book,  spread  the  umbrella,  and  went 


OR,  LUCY'S  VISIT.  91 

to  the  door.  It  then  occurred  to  them 
that  it  would  not  be  quite  right  to  go  out, 
without  leave;  so -Rollo  went  to  ask  his 
mother. 

His  mother  said  it  was  not  suitable  for 
young  ladies  to  go  out  in  the  rain,  as  their 
shoes,  and  their  dress  generally,  were  thin, 
and  could  not  bear  to  be  exposed  to  wet ; 
But  she  said  that  Rollo  himself  might 
take  off  his  shoes  and  stockings,  and  go 
out  alone,  when  the  rain  held  up. 

"  But,  mother,"  said  he,  "  why  cannot  I 
go  out  now,  with  the  umbrella  ?  " 

"  Because,"  she  replied,  "  when  it  rains 
fast,  some,  of  the  water  spatters  through 
the  umbrella,  and  some  will  be  driven 
against  you  by  the  wind." 

"  Well,  I  will  wait,  and  as  soon  as  it 
rains  but  little,  I  will  go  out.  But  must  I 
take  off  my  shoes  and  stockings  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  his  mother,  "  or  else  you 
will  get  them  wet  and  muddy.  And  be- 
fore you  go,  you  must  get  a  dipper  of  wa- 
ter ready  in  the  shed,  to  pour  on  your  feet, 
and  wash  them,  when  you  get  back  ;  and 
then  wait  till  they  are  entirely  dry,  before 
you  put  on  your  shoes  and  stockings  again. 


92    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOON; 

If  you  want  the  pea-pods  enough  to  take 
all  that  trouble,  you  may  go  for  them." 

Rollo  said  he  did  want  them  enough 
for  that,  and  he  then  went  back  and  told 
Lucy  what  his  mother  had  said,  and  they 
concluded  to  read  until  the  rain  should 
cease,  and  that  then  Rollo  should  go  out 
into  the  garden. 

They  began  to  read ;  but  their  minds 
were  so  much  upon  the  pea-pod  boats,  that 
the  story  did  not  interest  them  very  much. 
Besides,  children  cannot  read  very  well 
aloud,  to  one  another ;  for  if  they  succeed 
in  calling  all  the  words  right,  they  do  not 
generally  give  the  stops  and  the  emphasis, 
and  the  proper  tones  of  voice,  so  as  to 
make  the  story  interesting  to  those  that 
hear.  Some  boys  and  girls  are  vain 
enough  to  think  that  they  can  read  very 
well,  just  because  they  can  call  all  the 
words  without  stopping  to  spell  them  ;  but 
this  is  very  far  from  being  enough  to  make 
a  good  reader. 

Rollo  read  a  little  way,  and  then  Lucy 
read  a  little  way ;  but  they  were  not  much 
interested,  and  thinking  that  the  difficulty 
might  be  in  the  book,  they  got  another,  but 
with  no  better  success.     At  last  Rollo  said 


OR,  LUCY'S  VISIT.  93 

they  would  go  and  get  their  mother  to  read 
to  them.  '  So  they  went  together  to  her 
room,  and  Rollo  said  that  they  could  not 
get  along  very  well  in  reading  themselves, 
and  asked  her  if  she  would  not  be  good 
enough  to  read  to  them. 

"  Why,  what  is  the  difficulty  ?  "  said 
she. 

"  O,  I  do  not  know,  exactly :  the  story 
is  not  very  interesting,  and  then  we  can- 
not read  very  well." 

"  In  what  respect  will  it  be  better  for 
me  to  read  to  you  ?  "  she  asked. 

"  Why,  mother,  you  can  choose  us  a 
prettier  story ;  and  then  we  should  under- 
stand it  better  if  you  read  it." 

"  I  suppose  you  would  ;  but  I  see  you 
have  made  a  great  mistake." 

"  What  mistake  ?  "  said  both  the  chil- 
dren at  once. 

"  Why  is  it  that  you  are  going  to 
read  at  all  ?  " 

"Why,  you  advised  us  to,  mother." 

"  Did  I  advise  you  to  do  it  as  a  duty, 
or  as  a  pleasure  ?" 

"  As  a  duty,  mother ;  I  recollect  now," 
said  Rollo. 

"Yes;  well,  now  the  mistake  you  have 


94    THE  HALO  ROUND  THE  MOONj 

made  is,  that  you  are  looking  upon  it 
only  as  a  pleasure,  and  instead  of  doing  it 
faithfully;  in  such  a  way  as  will  make  it 
most  useful  to  you,  you  are  forgetting  that 
altogether,  and  only  intent  upon  having 
it  interesting  and  pleasant.  Is  it  not 
so  ?  " 

"  Why yes,"  said  Rollo,  hesitat- 
ing, and  looking  down ;  and  then  turn- 
ing round  to  Lucy,  he  said,  "  I  suppose 
we  had  better  go  and  read  the  story  our- 
selves." 

"  Do  just  as  you  please,"  said  his  mother. 
"  I  have  not  commanded  you  to  read,  but 
only  recommended  it ;  and  that  not  as  a 
way  of  interesting  you,  but  as  a  way  of 
spending  an  hour  usefully,  as  a  prepara- 
tion for  an  hour  of  enjoyment  afterwards 
You  can  do  as  you  please,  however  ;  but  if 
you  attempt  to  read  at  all,  I  advise  you 
to  do  it  not  as  play,  but  as  a  lesson." 

"  Well,  come,  Rollo,"  said  Lucy,  "  let 
us  go." 

So  the  children  ran  back  to  the  entry,, 
and  sat  down  to  their  story,  taking  pains 
to  read  carefully,  as  if  their  object  was 
to  learn  to  read;    and  though  they  did 


OR,  LUCYS   VISIT.  95 

not   expect  it,  they  did,  in  fact,  have  a 
very  pleasant  time. 

The  rest  of  the  adventures  of  Rollo  and 
Lucy,  during  this  day,  must  be  reserved 
for  another  story. 


THE   FEESHET. 


:  tr- ^^MfcwaBis&Bgwd 

:■--■"- 

>          1 

^fi1^^ 

^^^^^^^w 

:  .w-=^?^-^',  <.^^^* 

■HS»£tfl 

^*~          -  HZ^S^^^^SBg^^BH^^ 

Going  to  see  the  freshet." — p.  126. 


THE  FRESHET 


The  story  that  Rollo  and  his  cousin 
Lucy  began  to  read  together,  in  the  back 
entry,  looking  out  towards  the  garden,  that 
rainy  day  when  they  were  disappointed 
of  the  excursion  up  the  mountain,  com- 
menced as  follows  : — 

MARIA  AND  THE  CARAVAN. 

Maria  Wilton  lives  in  the  pretty  white  house 
which  stands  just  at  the  entrance  of  the  wood, 
where  the  children  find  the  blackberries  so  thick 
in  the  berrying  season.  It  is  not  as  large  or  ele- 
gant a  house  as  many  that  we  pass  on  a  walk 
through  the  village  ;  but  yet,  with  its  neatly-paint- 
ed front  and  blooming  little  garden,  its  appear- 
ance is  quite  as  inviting  as  that  of  many  a  more 
splendid  mansion.  Certain  it  is,  at  least,  that 
there  is  not  a  more  pleasant  or  happy  dwelling 
in  the  town.  Neatness  and  good  order  regulate 
all  the  arrangements  of  the  family,  and  where  such 
is  the  case,  it  is  almost  needless  to  add  that  peace 


100  THE  FRESHET. 

and  harmony  characterize  the  intercourse  of  the 
inmates.  It  is  seldom  that  confusion  or  uproar,  or 
disputes  or  contentions,  are  known  among  the  Wil- 
tons. 

But  it  was  of  Maria  that  I  was  intending  to 
speak  more  particularly, — her  kind,  and  yield- 
ing, and  conciliating  manners  towards  her  broth- 
ers and  sisters.  Maria  was  not  the  oldest  of  the 
children ;  she  was  not  quite  nine,  and  her  sister 
Harriet  was  as  much  as  eleven,  and  her  brother 
George  still  older.  And  yet  her  influence  did 
more  to  maintain  peace  and  good  feeling  in  the 
family  group,  than  would  have  been  believed  by 
a  person  who  had  not  observed  her.  In  every 
case  where  only  her  own  wishes  or  inclinations 
were  concerned,  Maria  was  ready  to  give  up  to 
George  or  Harriet ;  because,  as  she  said,  they 
were  older  than  herself;  and  again,  she  was  quite 
as  ready  to  yield  to  little  Susan  and  Willy,  be- 
cause they  were  younger.  Her  brothers  and  sis- 
ters, in  their  turn,  were  far  less  apt  to  contend  for 
any  privilege  or  advantage,  than  they  would  have 
been,  if  she  had  shown  herself  more  tenacious  of 
her  own  rights. 

Mr.  Wilton  used  occasionally  to  go  into  the 
city,  a  few  miles  distant,  upon  business.  He 
usually  went  in  a  chaise^  taking  one  of  the  chil- 
dren with  him.  The  excursion  was  to  them  a 
very  pleasant  one,  and  all  anticipated,  with  a  great 
deal  of  pleasure,  their  respective  turns  to  ride 
with  their  father.  It  happened  that  the  day  when 
it  fell  to  Maria's  turn,  was  to  be  the  close  of  an 


THE  FRESHET.  101 

exhibition  of  animals,  which  had  been  for  a  short 
time  in  the  city.  Maria's  eye  brightened  with 
pleasure  as  her  father  mentioned  this  circumstance 
at  the  dinner  table,  and  inquired  if  she  would  like 
to  visit  the  caravan. 

"  O,  father  ! "  exclaimed  George,  eagerly,  as 
he  laid  down  his  knife  and  fork ;  "  a  caravan  ! — 
Mayn't  I  go  ?  " 

"  You  cannot  both  go,"  replied  his  father ;  "  and 
I  believe  it  is  Maria's  turn,  to  go  into  town  with 
me." 

"  Well,"  said  George,  "  but  I  don't  believe 
Maria  would  care  any  thing  about  seeing  it ; "  and 
his  eye  glanced  eagerly  from  his  father  to  Ma- 
ria, and  then  from  Maria  to  his  father  again. 

"  How  is  it,  Maria?  "  said  Mr.  Wilton  ;  "  have 
you  no  wish  to  visit  the  caravan  ?  " 

Maria  did  not  answer  directly,  while  yet  her 
countenance  showed  very  plainly  what  her  wishes 
really  were.  "  Is  there  an  elephant  there,  father?" 
she,  at  length,  rather  hesitatingly  inquired. 

"  There  probably  is,"  replied  her  father. 

"An  ehphant ! "  repeated  George  with  some 
thing  of  a  sneer ;    "  who   has  not  seen  an  ele- 
phant?     1  would  not  give  a  farthing  to  go,  if 
there  was  nothing  better  than  an  elephant  to  be 
seen."  .   * 

"  What  should  you  care  so  much  to  see  ? "  in- 
quired Mr.  Wilton. 

"  Why,  I  would  give  any  thing  to  see  a  leop- 
ard or  a  camel." 

"  A  leopard  or  a  camel ! "  repeated  his  father, 


102  ,  THE  FRESHET. 

in  the  same  tone  in  which  George  had  made  his 
rude  speech ;  "  I  am  sure  I  wouldn't  give  a  farthing 
to  see  either  a  camel  or  a  leopard." 

"  No,"  said  George,  "  because  you  have  seen 
them  both  ;  but  I  never  did." 

"  Neither  has  Maria  seen  an  elephant,"  returned 
Mr.  Wilton  ;  u  so  what  is  the  difference  ?  " 

George  looked  a  little  mortified  at  the  over- 
throw of  his  argument.  But  still  his  eagerness  for 
the  gratification  was  not  to  be  repressed. — "  I 
shouldn't  think  a  girl  need  to  care  about  going  to 
see  a  parcel  of  wild  beasts,"  he  remarked,  rather 
petulantly,  as  he  gave  his  chair  a  push,  upon  rising 
from  the  table. 

aO,  George,  George,"  expostulated  his 
father,  "  I  did  not  think  you  were  either  a  selfish 
or  a  sullen  boy." 

"  No,  father,  and  he  is  not,"  said  Maria,  ap- 
proaching her  father,  and  taking  his  hand  ;  "  but 
he  wants  to  go  very  much,  and  I  do  not  care  so 
much  about  it ;  so  he  may  go,  and  I  will  stay  at 
home." 

"  You  are  a  good  girl,"  said  her  father  ;  "  but 
I  shall  not  consent  to  any  such  injustice ;  so  go 
and  get  ready  as  quick  as  possible." 

"  But,  father,  I  had  really  a  great  deal  rather 
that  George  should  go,"  insisted  Maria. 

"  But  I  cannot  think  that  George  would  really, 
on  the  whole,  prefer  to  take  your  place,"  said  Mr. 
Wilton,  turning  to  George. 

"  No,  sir."  replied  George,  who — restored  by 
this  time  to  a  sense  of  propriety  and  justice — was 


THE  FRESHET.  103 

standing  ready  to  speak  for  himself.  ".'No,  sir ; 
Maria  is  very  kind  ;  but  I  do  not  wish  to  take  her 
place ;  I  am  very  sorry  indeed  that  I  said  any 
thing  about  it.  I  certainly  shall  not  consent  to 
take  your  place,  Maria,"  he  said,  perceiving  that 
she  was  ready  to  entreat  still  further. 

"O!  but  I  do  wish  you  would,"  said  Maria. 
But  just  here  her  mother  interposed.  "  If  Maria 
would  really  prefer  to  give  up  her  place  to  her 
brother,"  said  Mrs.  Wilton,  "I  certainly  shall  like 
the  arrangement  very  much,  for  I  am  to  be  par- 
ticularly engaged  this  afternoon,  and,  as  Harriet  is 
to  be  absent,  I  shall  be  very  glad  of  some  of  Ma- 
ria's assistance  in  taking  care  of  the  baby." 

"  O  !  well,"  said  Maria,  brightening  up,  "  then 
I  am  sure  I  will  not  go  ;  so  run,  George,  for  father 
is  almost  ready  to  start." 

Thus  the  matter  was  amicably  settled.  George 
went  with  his  father,  and  Maria  remained  at  home 
to  help  take  care  of  little  Willy." 

Maria  loved  her  little  brother  very  much,  and  she 
never  seemed  tired  of  taking  care  of  him,  even 
when  he  was  ever  so  fretful  or  restless.  She  would 
leave  her  play,  at  any  moment,  to  run  and  rock  the 
baby,  or  to  hold  him  in  her  lap ;  for,  even  if  she  felt 
inclined,  at  any  time,  to  be  a  little  out  of  patience 
for  a  moment,  she  would  recollect  how  many  hours 
she  had  herself  been  nursed,  by  night  and  by  day, 
and  she  was  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  relieve  her 
mother  of  some  of  her  care  and  fatigue.  Her 
cousin,  Ellen  Weston,  called,  one  afternoon,  to 


104      •  THE  FRESHET. 

-<» 

ask  her  to  accompany  a  party  of  little  girls,  who 
were  going  to  gather  berries  in  the  wood  near 
Maria's  house.  It  happened  that  Maria  had  been 
left  with  the  care  of  Willy,  just  as  her  cousin 
called ;  and  it  happened,  too,  that  Willy  was  that 
afternoon  unusually  fretful  and  difficult  to  please. 
If  Maria  left  him  for  a  moment,  or  if  she  did  not 
hold  him  exactly  in  the  posture  which  suited  him, 
or  if  she  had  not  precisely  the  thing  ready  which 
he  wanted  at  the  moment,  he  would  act  just  as 
all  babies  of  nine  or  ten  months  sometimes  take  it 
into  their  heads  to  act.  With  all  her  patience  and 
good-humor,  she  hardly  knew  how  to  manage 
him ;  and  especially  after  having  been  obliged  to 
reject  so  agreeable  an  invitation  as  the  one  her 
cousin  brought,  she  found  her  task  a  little  irk- 
some. 

She  coulcl  hardly  repress  an  occasional  expres- 
sion of  impatience,  as  she  tried  in  vain  to  please 
the  wayward  little  fellow.  '  But  her  patience  and 
good-humor  were  very  soon  restored  ;  and  as  she 
reflected  that  she  was  doing  her  mother  a  great 
deal  of  good,  by  staying  at  home  with  Willy,  she 
felt  quite  willing  to  dismiss  all  thoughts  of  the 
berrying  expedition.  The  girls,  however,  did  not 
forget  her.  It  was  proposed  by  one  of  the  party, 
when  Ellen  had  stated  the  reason  why  Maria 
could  not  join  them,  that  each  should  contribute 
some  portion  of  her  berries  to  be  carried  to  her  on 
their  way  home.  All  agreed  very  readily  to  the 
plan,  and  each  took  pains  to  select  the  largest  and 


THE  FRESHET.  105 

the  ripest  of  her  berries  for  Maria's  basket.  The 
gratification  afforded  Maria  by  this  little  token  of 
kind  remembrance,  more  than  compensated  for 
the  self-denial  which  she  had  practised.  It  is  al- 
most always  the  case  when  persons  cheerfully  sub- 
mit to  any  privation,  for  the  sake  of  other  persons, 
or  because  it  is  duty,  that  they  are  amply  reward- 
ed for  it.  They  enjoy,  at  least,  the  consciousness  ' 
of  doing  right,  which  is  one  of  the  very  highest 
sources  of  pleasure.  Maria  would,  at  any  time, 
have  been  satisfied  with  only  this  reward  ;  but  it 
very  often  happened,  very  unexpectedly,  that 
something  more  was  in  store  for  her.  This  was 
the  case  upon  the  time  when  she  gave  up  her  ride, 
and  her  visit  to  the  caravan,  for  the  sake  of  her 
brother.  I  have  not  said  that  it  was  absolutely 
Maria's  duty  to  yield  to  her  brother,  in  this  case  : 
perhaps  it  would  have  been^  perfectly  right  for 
her  to  have  maintained  her  own  claims  ;  and  yet 
there  is  no  doubt  that  she  felt  a  great  deal  happier 
for  the  sacrifice  she  had  made. 

But  we  were  going  to  speak  of  some  further  re- 
ward that  her  amiable  behavior,  in  this  instance,  pro- 
cured her.  As  her  father  opened  a  package  which 
he  had  brought  on  his  return,  he  silently  placed 
in  her  hands  a  beautiful  copy  of  a  newly-published 
work,  upon  the  fly-leaf  of  which  she  found  writ- 
ten— "  Maria  Wilton — a  reward  for  her  kind  and 
obliging  manners  towards  her  brothers  and  sis- 
ters." '    , 


106  THE  FRESHET 


SMALL    CRAFT. 

When  they  had  finished  the  story,  Lucy 
shut  the  book,  saying,  "  Maria  was  a  good 
girl,  was  not  she,  Rollo  ?  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  she  was  an  excellent 
girl.  I  would  have  done  just  so;  would 
not  you,  Lucy  ?  " 

"  I  ought  to,  I  know,"  said  Lucy,  "  but 
perhaps  1  should  not." 

"  I  should,  I  am  sure,"  said  Rollo. 

Lucy  was  a  polite  girl,  and  she  did  not 
contradict  Rollo,  though  she  recollected 
how  much  selfishness  he  had  shown  that 
morning,  and  it  did  not  seem  to  her  very 
likely  that  he  would  have  been  willing  to 
make  any  very  great  sacrifice  to  oblige 
others. 

"  My  father  says  we  cannot  tell  what 
we  should  do  until  we  are  tried,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  Well,  I  know  I  should  have  been  will- 
ing to  stay  at  home,  if  I  had  been  Maria," 
replied  Rollo. 

"But,  only  think,  that  would  be  prefer- 
ring another  person's  pleasure  rather  than 
your  own."  . 


THE  FRESHET.  107 

"  Well,  I  should  prefer  another  person's 
pleasure  rather  than  my  own." 

Rollo  was  beginning  to  get  a  little  excited 
and  vexed.  People  who  boast  of  excel- 
lences which  they  do  not  possess,  are  very 
apt  to  be  unreasonable  and  angry  when 
any  body  seems  to  doubt  whether  their 
boastings  are  true.  He  was  thus  going 
on,  insisting  upon  it  that  he  should  have 
acted  as  Maria  had  done,  and  was  just 
saying  that  he  should  prefer  another  per- 
son's pleasure  rather  than  his  own,  when 
Jonas  came  into  the  entry  from  the  kitch- 
en, with  an  armful  of  wood,  which  he  was 
carrying  into  the  parlor. 

"  When  is  it,  Rollo,"  said  Jonas,  "  that 
you  prefer  another  person's  pleasure  to 
your  own  ?  " 

"  Always,"  said  Rollo,  with  an  air  of 
self-conceit  and  consequence. 

Jonas  smiled,  and  went  on  with  his 
wood.     v 

•  It  is  always  better  for  boys  to  be  modest 
and  humble-minded.  They  appear  ridic- 
ulous to  others  when  they  are  boasting 
what  great  things  they  can  do  ;  and  when 
they  boast  wfe'U  good  things  they  dc  they 


108  THE  FRESHET. 

are  very  likely  to  be  just  on  the  eve  of 
doing  exactly  the  opposite. 

In  a  moment  Jonas  came  back  out  of 
the  parlor,  and  said,  as  he  passed  through, 

"  Self-praise 
Goes  but  little  ways ; " 

a  short  piece  of  versification  which  all 
boys  and  girls  would  do  well  to  remember. 

Now  it  happened  that,  all  this  time, 
Rollo's  mother  was  sitting  in  a  little  bed- 
room, which  had  a  door  opening  into  the 
entry  where  Lucy  and  Rollo  had  been 
reading,  and  she  heard  all  the  conversa- 
tion. She  knew  that  though  Rollo  was 
generally  a  good  boy,  and  was  willing  to 
know  his  faults,  and  often  endeavored  to 
correct  them,  still  that  he  was,  like  all 
other  boys,  prone  to  selfishness  and  to 
vanity,  and  she  thought  that  she  must  take 
some  way  to  show  him  clearly  what  the 
truth  really  was,  about  his  disinterested- 
ness. 

In  a  few  minutes,  therefore,  she  went 
out  of  the  room,  and  took  from  the  store 
closet  an  apple  and  a  pear.  They  were 
both  good,  but  the  pear  was  particularly 
fine.     It  was   large,  mellow,   and  juicy. 


THE  FRESHET.  109 

She  then  went  back  to  her  seat,  and 
called,  "  Rollo." 

Rollo  came  running  to  her. 

"  Here,"  said  she,  "  is  an  apple  and  a 
pear  for  you." 

"Is  one  forme  and  one  for  Lucy?" 
said  he. 

"  That  is  just  as  you  please.  I  give 
them  both  to  you.  You  .may  do  what  you 
choose  with  them." 

Rollo  took  the  fruit,  much  pleased,  and 
walked  slowly  back,  hesitating  what  to  do. 
He  thought  he  must  certainly  give  one  to 
Lucy,  and  as  he  had  just  been  boasting 
that  he  preferred  another's  pleasure  to  his 
own,  he  was  ashamed  to  offer  her  the 
apple ;  and  yet  he  wanted  the  pear  very 
much  himself. 

If  he  had  had  a  little  more  time,  he 
would  have  hit  upon  a  plan  which  would 
have  removed  all  the  difficulty  at  once,  by 
dividing  both  the  apple  and  the  pear,  and 
giving  to  Lucy  half  of  each.  But  he  did 
not  think  of  this.  In  fact  his  mother  knew 
that,  as  he  was  going  directly  back  to  Lucy, 
he  would  not  have  much  time  to  think, 
but  must  act  according  to  the  spontane- 
ous impulse  of  his  heart. 


110  THE  FRESHET. 

But  though  he  did  not  think  of  dividing 
the  apple  and  the  pear,  he  happened  to 
hit  upon  a  plan,  which  occurred  to  him 
just  as  he  was  going  back  into  the  entry, 
that  he  thought  would  do. 

He  held  the  fruit  behind  him  ;  the  apple 
in  one  hand,  and  the  pear  in  the  other. 
Lucy  saw  him  coming,  and  said, 

*  What  have  you  got,  Rollo  ?  " 

"  Which  will  you  have,  right  hand  or 
left  ?  "  said  he  in  reply. 

«  Right." 

Rollo  held  forward  his  right  hand,  and,lo! 
it  was  the  pear.  But  he  could  not  bear  to 
part  with  it,  and  he  brought  forward  the 
other,  and  said, 

"  No,  you  may  have  the  apple." 

"  No,"  said  Lucy  ;  "  the  pear  is  fairly 
mine ;  you  asked  me  which  I  would  have, 
and  I  said  the  right." 

"But  I  want  the  pear,"  said  Rollo; 
"  you  may  have  the  apple.  Mother  gave 
them  both  to  me." 

"  I  want  the  pear  too,"  said  Lucy ;  "  it 
is  mine,  and  you  must  give  it  to  me." 

Just  then  a  voice  called  from  the  bed- 
room, 

"  Children ! » 


THE  FRESHET.  Ill 

"What,  mother?"  said  Rollo. 

"  I  want  you  both  to  come  here." 
*  Rollo  and  Lucy  would  both  have  been 
ashamed  of  their  contention,  were  it  not 
that  the  pear  looked  so  very  rich  and 
tempting,  that  they  were  both  very  eager 
to  have  it. 

"  What  is  the  difficulty  ?  "  said  Rollo's 
mother,  as  soon  as  they  stood  before  her. 

"  Why,  Lucy  wants  the  pear,"  said 
Rollo,  "and  you  gave  them  both  to  me, 
and  said  I  might  do  as  I  pleased  with 
them.  I  am  willing  to  give  her  the 
apple." 

"Yes,  but  he  offered  me  my  choice," 
said  Lucy,  "  right  hand  or  left,  and  I  chose 
the  right,  and  now  he  ought  to  give  it  to 
me." 

"  And  are  you  willing  that  I  should  de- 
cide it  ?  "  said  the  lady. 

"  Yes,  mother,"  and  "  Yes,  aunt,"  said 
Rollo  and  Lucy  together. 

"You  have  both  done  wrong;  not 
very  wrong,  but  a  little  wrong ;  and  I  think 
neither  ought  to  have  the  whole  of  the 
pear.  So  I  shall  divide  the  pear  and  the 
apple  both  between  you ;  and  I  will  tell 
you  how  you  have  done  wrong. 


112  THE  FRESHET. 

"You,  Rollo,  by  asking  her  which  she 
would  have,  implied  that  you  would  leave 
it  to  chance  to  decide,  and  that  you  would 
let  her  have  her  fair  chance.  Then  you 
ought  to  have  submitted  to  the  result.  If 
she  had  chosen  the  left  hand,  she  ought 
to  have  been  content.  If  she  had  got  the 
apple,  you  would  have  had  the  credit  of 
giving  her  an  equal  chance  with  you,  and 
she  ought  therefore  to  have  had  the  full 
benefit  of  the  chance. 

"  And  then  you,  Lucy,  did  wrong,  for, 
although  Rollo  asked  you  to  choose,  he 
did  not  actually  promise  you  your  choice, 
and  as  he  was  under  no  obligation  to  give 
you  either,  you  ought  not  to  have  insisted 
upon  his  fulfilling  his  implied  promise.  Is 
it  not  so?  " 

The  children  both  saw  and  admitted 
that  it  was. 

"  The  best  way,  I  think,"  she  continued, 
"  would  have  been  for  you,  Rollo,  to  have 
given  the  pear  to  Lucy,  as  she  was  your 
visitor,  and  a  young  lady  too.  Then  she 
would  have  given  you  half  in  eating  it. 
However,  you  were  not  very  much  in  the 
wrong,  either  of  you.  It  was  a  sort  of  a 
doubtful  case.     But  I  hope  you  see  from 


THE  FRESHET.  113 

it,  Rollo,  what  I  wanted  to  teach  you,  that 
you  are  no  more  inclined  to  prefer  other 
persons'  pleasure  to  your  own,  than  other 
children  are.  Remember  Jonas's  couplet 
hereafter.  I  think  it  is  a  very  good  one. 
Now  go  and  get  a  knife,  and  cut  the  fruit ; 
and  see,  it  does  not  rain  but  little  \  you  can 
go  and  get  your  pea-pods  now." 

Away  went  the  children  out  into  the 
kitchen  after  a  knife.  Rollo  wanted  to 
cut  the  apple  and  the  pear  himself,  and 
Lucy  made  no  objection  ;  and  we  must 
do  him  the  justice  to  say  that  he  gave 
rather  the  largest  half  of  each  to  Lucy. 
They  then  went  out  into  the  shed,  Rollo 
taking  with  him  a  dipper  of  water  to  wash 
his  feet  when  he  came  back  from  the  gar- 
den. Rollo  then  took  off  his  shoes,  and 
gave  Lucy  his  share  of  the  fruit,  to  keep 
for  him,  and  then  sallied  forth  into  the 
yard,  holding  the  umbrella  over  his  head, 
as  a  few  drops  of  rain  were  still  falling. 

He  waded  into  the  little  pond  at  the 
garden  gate,  and  then  turned  round  to  look 
at  Lucy  and  laugh.  He  began,  too,  to 
caper  about  in  the  water,  but  Lucy  toM 
him  to  take  care,  or  he  would  fall  down, 
e*  8  K*     i 


114  THE  FRESHET. 

and  they  could  not  wash  his  clothes,  as  they 
could  his  feet,  with  their  dipper  of  water. 

So  he  went  carefully  forward  till  he 
came  to  the  peas,  and  gathered  as  many 
as  he  wanted,  and  then  returned. 

As  he  was  coming  back,  he  saw  Jonas 
in  the  barn.  Jonas  called  out  to  him  to 
ask  what  he  had  got. 

"  I  have  been  to  get  some  pea-pods," 
said  he,  "  to  make  boats  with." 

"  Where  are  you  going  to  sail  them  ?  " 
said  Jonas. 

"  O,  in  this  little  pond,  when  it  is 
done  raining." 

"But you  had  better  have  a  little  pond 
now,  in  the  shed." 

"  How  can  we  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  You  might  have  it  in  a  milk-pan." 

"  So  we  can.  Could  vou  come  and 
get  it  for  us  ?  " 

"Yes,  in  a  few  minutes — by  the  time 
you  get  your  boats  made." 

Rollo  and  Lucy  were  much  pleased 
with  this,  and  they  sat  down,  one  on  each 
side  of  the  milk-pan  pond,  and  sailed  their 
boats  a  long  time.  He  cut  small  pieces  of 
the  apple  and  of  the  pear  for  cargo,  and 
Rollo  put  in  the  stem  of  the  pear  for  the 


THE  FRESHET.  115 

captain  of  his  boat.  Each  one  was  good 
humored  and  obliging,  and  the  time  passed 
away  very  pleasantly,  until  it  was  near  din- 
ner-time. When  they  came  in  to  dinner, 
they  observed  that  it  was  raining  again 
very  fast.  .  • 


THE  PRINCIPLES  OF  ORDER. 

"Father,"  said  Rollo,  at  the  dinner- 
table,  "  do  you  think  it  will  rain  all  the 
afternoon  ?  " 

"It  looks  like  it,"  replied  his  father; 
"  but  why  ?  Do  you  not  enjoy  yourselves 
in  the  house  ?  " 

"  O  yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  have  had 
a  fine  time  this  morning ;  but  Lucy  and 
I  thought  that,  if  it  did  not  rain  this  after- 
noon, we  might  go  out  in  the  garden  a 
little." 

"It  may  clear  up  towards  night;  but,  if 
it  does,  I  think  it  would  be  better  to  go 
down  to  the  brook  and  see  the  freshet, 
than  to  go  into  the  garden."' 

"  The  freshet  ?  Will  there  be  a  freshet, 
do  you  think  ?  " 

"Yes,  if  it  rains  this  afternoon  as  fast  as 


116  THE  FRESHET. 

it  does  now,  I  think  the  brook  will  be  quite 
high  towards  night." 

Rollo  was  much  pleased  to  hear  this. 
He  told  Lucy,  after  dinner,  that  the  brook 
looked  magnificently  in  a  freshet;  that 
the  banks  were  brimming  full,  and  the 
water  poured  along  in  a  great  torrent, 
foaming  and  dashing  against  the  logs  and 
rocks. 

"  Then,  besides,  Lucy,"  said  he,  *  we 
can  carry  down  our  little  boats  and  set 
them  a  sailing.  How  they  will  whirl  and 
plunge  along  down  the  stream !  " 

Lucy  liked  the  idea  of  seeing  the  fresh- 
et, too,  very  much ;  though  she  said  she  was 
afraid  it  would  be  too  wet  for  her  to  go. 
Rollo  told  her  never  to  fear,  for  his  father 
would  contrive  some  way  to  get  her  down 
there  safely,  and  they  both  went  to  the 
back  entry  door  again,  looking  out,  and 
wishing  now  that  it  would  rain  faster  and 
faster,  as  they  did  before  dinner  that  it 
would  cease  to  rain. 

"  But,"  said  Lucy,  "  what  if  it  should 
not  stop  raining  at  all,  to-night  ?  " 

"  O,  it  will,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  know  it 
will.  Besides,  if  it  should  not,  we  can  go 
down  to-morrow  morning,  you  know,  and 


THE  FRESHET.  117 

then  there  will  be  a  bigger  freshet.  O, 
how  full  the  brook  will  be  by  to-morrow 
morning !  " 

And  Rollo  clapped  his  hands,  and  ca- 
pered with  delight. 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  soberly,  "  but  I  must 
go  home  to-night." 

"Must  you?"  said  Rollo.  "So  you 
must.     I  did  not  think  of  that." 

"But  I  think,"  continued  he,  "  that  it 
will  certainly  clear  up  to-night.  I  will  go 
and  ask  father  if  he  does  not  think  so 
too." 

They  both  went  together  back  into  the 
parlor  to  ask  the  question. 

"  I  cannot  tell,  my  children,  whether  it 
will  or  not.  I  see  no  indications,  one  way 
or  the  other.  I  think  you  had  better  for- 
get all  about  it,  and  go  to  doing  something 
else  ;  for  if  you  spend  all  the  afternoon  in 
watching  the  sky,  and  trying  to  guess 
whether  it  will  clear  up  or  not,  you  can- 
not enjoy  yourselves,  and  may  be  sadly 
disappointed  at  last. 

"Why,  we  cannot  help  thinking  of  it, 
father." 

"  You  cannot,  if  you  stand  there  at  the 
back  door,  doing  nothing  else ;  but,  if  you 


118  THE  FKESHET. 

engage  in  some  other  employment,  you 
will  soon  forget  all  about  it." 

"What  do  you  think  we  had  better 
do  ?  "  said  Lucy. 

"  I  think, you  had  better  go  up  and  put 
your  room  and  your  desk  all  in  order,  Rollo ; 
Lucy  can  help  you." 

"But,  father,  I  have  put  it  in  order  a 
great  many  times,  and  it  always  gets  out 
of  order  again  very  soon,  and  I  cannot 
keep  it  neat." 

"That  is  partly  because  you  do  not  put 
it  in  order  right.  You  do  not  understand 
the  principles  of  order." 

"  What  are  the  principles  of  order  ?  " 
said  Lucy. 

"  There  are  a  good  many.  I  will  tell 
you  some  of  them,  and  then  you  may 
go  and  apply  them  in  arranging  Rollo's 
things. 

"  One  principle  is  to  have  the  things 
that  are  most  frequently  used  in  the  most 
accessible  place,  so  that  they  can  be  taken 
out  and  returned  to  their  proper  places 
easily. 

"  Another  good  principle  for  you  is  to 
distinguish  between  the  things  which  you 
wish  to  use,  and  those  you  only  wish  to 


THE  FRESHET.  119 

preserve.  The  former  ought  to  be  in  sight, 
and  near  at  hand.  The  latter  may  be 
packed  away  more  out  of  view. 

"  Another  principle  is  to  avoid  having 
your  desk  and  room  encumbered  with 
things  of  little  or  no  value,  as  stones  you 
have  picked  up,  and  papers,  and  sticks. 
The  place  to  keep  such  things  is  in  the 
barn  or  shed,  not  in  your  private  room. 

"  Then  you  must  arrange  your  things 
systematically,  putting  things  of  the  same 
nature  together.  Once  I  looked  into 
your  desk  after  you  had  put  it  in  order, 
and  I  found  that,  in  the  back  side  of  it,  you 
had  piled  up  books,  and  white  paper,  and 
pictures,  and  a  slate,  and  a  pocket-book 
or  two,  all  together.  You  thought  they 
were  in  order,  because  they  were  in  a  pile. 
Now,  they  ought  to  have  been  separated 
and  arranged ;  all  the  white  paper  by  it- 
self in  front,  where  you  can  easily  get  it 
to  use ;  the  pictures  all  by  themselves  in  a 
portfolio;  and  the  books  should  be  ar- 
ranged, not  in  a  pile,  but  in  a  row,  on  their 
edges,  so  that  you  can  get  out  any  one 
without  disturbing  the  others.  Those  are 
some  of  the  principles  of  order." 

"  Well,  come,  Rollo,"  said  Lucy,  "let  us 


120  THE  FRESHET. 

go  and  see  your  things,  and  try  to  put 
them  in  order,  right." 

Rollo  went,  but,  as  he  left  the  room,  he 
turned  round  to  ask  his  father  if  he  would 
not  come  with  them,  and  just  show  them 
a  little  about  it.  His  father  said  he  could 
not  come  very  well  then,  but  if  they  would 
try  and  do  as  well  as  they  could,  he  would 
come  and  look  over  their  work  after  it  was 
done,  and  tell  them  whether  it  was  right 
or  not. 

Rollo  and  Lucy  went  up  into  Rollo's 
room,  and,  true  enough,  they  found  not  a 
little  confusion  there.  But  they  went  to 
work,  and  soon  became  very  much  inter- 
ested in  their  employment.  A  great  many 
of  the  things  were  new  to  Lucy,  and  as 
they  went  on  arranging  them,  they  often 
stopped  to  talk  and  play.  In  this  way 
several  hours  passed  along  very  pleasantly ; 
and  when,  at  last,  they  had  got  them  near- 
ly arranged,  Rollo  went  to  the  window 
to  throw  out  some  old  stones  that  he  con- 
cluded not  to  keep  any  longer,  when  he 
exclaimed  aloud, 

"  O,  Lucy,  Lucy,  come  here  quick." 

Lucy  ran.  Rollo  pointed  out  to  the 
western  horizon,  and  said,  "  See  there !  " 


THE  FRESHET. 


121 


There  was  a  broad  band  of  bright 
golden  sky  all  along  the  western  hori- 
zon— clear  and  beautiful,  and  extending 
each  way  as  far  as  they  could  see.  The 
dark  clouds  overhead  reached  down  to 
the  edge  of  this  clear  sky,  where  they 
hung  in  a  fringe  of  gold,  and  the  daz- 
zling rays  of  the  sun  were  just  peeping 
under  it.     The  rain  had  ceased. 


122  THE  FRESHET. 

Hollo  and  Lucy  gazed  at  it  a  moment, 
and  then  ran  down  stairs  as  fast  as  they 
could  go,  calling  out, 

"  It  is  clearing  away !  It  is  clearing 
away !  Father,  it  is  clearing  away.  We 
can  go  and  see  the  freshet." 


CLEARING  UP. 


They  went  out  upon  the  steps  to  look 
at  the  sky.  A  few  drops  of  rain  were 
still  falling,  but  the  clouds  appeared  to  be 
breaking  in  several  places,  and  the  tract 
of  golden  sky  in  the  west  was  rising  and 
extending.  The  air  was  calm,  and  the 
golden  rays  of  the  sun  shone  upon  the 
fields  and  trees,  and  upon  the  glittering 
drops  that  hung  from  the  leaves  and 
branches.  Rollo  and  Lucy  both  said  it 
was  beautiful. 

They  went  in  and  urged  their  father  to 
go  with  them  down  to  the  brook  to  see 
the  freshet,  but  he  said  they  must  wait 
till  after  tea.  "  It  is  too  wet  to  go  now," 
said  he. 

"  But,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  do  not 


THE  FRESHET.  123 

think  it  will  be  any  better  after  tea.  The 
ground  cannot  dry  in  half  an  hour." 

"No,"  said  his  father;  "  but  the  water 
will  run  off  of  the  paths  a  great  deal,  so 
that  we  can  get  along  much  better." 

"  Well,  but  then  it  will  run  off  from  the 
brook  a  great  deal  too,  and  the  freshet 
will  not  be  so  high." 

"  It  is  a  little  different  Avith  the  brook," 
his  father  replied,  "  for  that  is  very  long, 
and  the  water  comes  a  great  way,  from 
among  the  hills.  Now,  while  we  are  tak- 
ing tea,  the  water  will  be  running  into  the 
brook  back  among  the  hills,  faster  than  it 
will  run  away  here,  so  that  it  will  grow 
higher  and  higher  for  some  hours." 

Rollo  had  no  more  to  say,  but  he  was 
impatient  to  go.  He  and  Lucy  went  out 
and  stood  on  the  steps  again.  The  clouds 
were  breaking  up  and  flying  away  in  all 
directions,  and  large  patches  of  clear  blue 
sky  appeared  every  where,  giving  promise 
of  a  beautiful  evening. 

"  Hark !  "  said  Rollo  ;  "  what  is  that?  " 

Lucy  listened.-  It  was  a  sort  of  roar- 
ing sound  down  in  the  woods.  Rollo  at 
first  thought  it  was  a  bear  growling. 


124  THE  FRESHET. 

"  Do  you  think  it  is  a  bear  ?  "  said  he 
to  Lucy,  with  a  look  of  some  concern. 

"  A  bear  ! — no,"  said  Lucy,  laughing. 
11  That  is  not  the  way  a  bear  growls.  It 
is  the  freshet." 

"  The  freshet !  "  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes ;  it  is  the  water  roaring  along  the 
brook." 

Rollo  listened,  and  he  immediately  per- 
ceived that  it  was  the  sound  of  water,  and 
he  jumped  and  capered  with  delight,  at 
thinking  how  fine  a  sight  it  must  be. 

At  the  tea-table  Rollo's  father  explained 
the  plan  he  had  formed  for  their  going. 
He  said  it  was  rather  a  difficult  thing  to 
go  and  see  a  freshet  without  getting  wet 
— especially  for  a  girl.  He  and  Rollo, 
he  said,  could  put  on  their  good  thick 
boots,  but  Lucy  had  none  suitable  for  such 
a  walk,  as  it  would  probably  be  very  wet 
and  muddy  in  some  places. 

"  What  shall  we  do  then  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  I  believe  I  shall  let  Jonas  go  down 
and  draw  Lucy  in  his  wagon,"  said  his 
father.  "  How  should  you  like  that, 
Lucy?" 

Lucy  said  she  should  like  it  very  well, 


THE  FRESHET.  125 

and  after  tea  they  went  out  to  the  garden- 
yard  door,  where  they  found  Jonas  with 
his  wagon  all  ready.  This  wagon  was 
one  which  Jonas  had  made  to  draw  Rollo 
upon.  It  was  plain  and  simple,  but  strong 
and  convenient,  and  perfectly  safe.  They 
helped  Lucy  into  it,  and  she  sat  down  on 
the  little  seat.  Rollo,  with  his  boots  on, 
took  hold  behind  to  push,  and  Jonas 
drew*  Rollo's  father  walked  behind,  and 
thus  they  set  off  to  view  the  freshet. 

They  moved  along  carefully  through  the 
yard,  and  then  turned  by  the  gate  and 
went  into  the  field.  The  path  led  them 
by  the  garden  fence  for  some  distance, 
and  they  went  along  very  pleasantly  for  a 
time,  until  at  length  they  came  to  a  large 
pool  of  water  covering  the  whole  path. 
There  were  high  banks  on  each  side,  so 
that  the  wagon  could  not  turn  out. 

"  What  shall  we  do  now  ? ';  said  Rollo. 

"  I  can  go  right  through  it,"  said 
Jonas  ;  "  it  is  not  deep." 

"  And  we  can  go  along  on  the  bank, 
by  the  side,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Very  well,"  said  his  father,  "  if  you 
are  not  afraid,  Lucy." 

Lucy  did  feel  a  little  afraid  at  first,  but 


126  THE  FRESHET. 

she  knew  that  if  her  uncle  was  willing 
that  she  should  go,  there  could  not  be  any 
danger ;  so  she  made  no  objection.  Be- 
sides, she  knew  that,  as  Jonas  was  to  walk 
along  before  her,  she  could  see  how  deep 
it  was,  and  there  could  not  be  any  deep 
places  without  his  finding  it  out  before  the 
wagon  went  into  them. 

Jonas  was  barefoot,  and  did  not  mind 
wetting  his  feet ;  so  he  waded  in,  drawing 
the  wagon  after  him.  It  was  about  up  to 
his  ankles  all  the  way.  Lucy  looked  over 
the  side  of  the  wagon,  and  felt  a  little  fear 
as  she  saw  the  wheels  half  under  water ; 
but  thev  went  safely  through.* 

Presently  they  began  to  descend  a  path 
which  led  them  into  the  woods.  They 
heard  the  roaring  of  the  water,  which  grew 
louder  and  louder  as  they  drew  nigh,  and 
then  Rollo  suddenly  stopped  and  said, 

14  Why,  father,  it  is  raining  here  in  the 
woods  now." 

Lucy  listened,  and  they  heard  the  drops 
of  rain  falling  upon  the  ground  all  around 
them  ;  and  yet,  looking  up,  they  saw  that 
the  sky  was  almost  perfectly  clear.     Pres- 

*  See  picture  at  the  beginning  of  this  story. 


THE  FRESHET.  127 

ently  they  thought  that  this  was  only  the 
drops  falling  off  from  the  leaves  of  the  trees. 

Rollo  said  he  meant  to  see  if  it  was  so, 
and  he  ran  out  of  the  path,  and  took  hold 
of  a  slender  tree  with  a  large  top  ot 
branches  and  leaves,  and,  looking  up  to  see 
if  any  drops  would  come  down,  he  gave  it 
a  good  shake ;  and,  true  enough,  down 
came  a  perfect  shower  of  drops  all  into  his 
face  and  eyes.  At  first  he  was  astonished 
at  such  an  unexpected  shower-bath,  but 
he  concluded,  on  the  whole,  to  laugh,  and 
not  cry  about  it ;  and  he  came  back  wi- 
ping his  face,  and  looking  comically 
enough.  All  the  party  laughed  a  little  at 
his  mishap,  and  then  went  on. 

In  a  few  minutes  more,  they  came  in 
sight  of  the  foaming  brook.  The  water 
was  very  high  ;  in  some  places,  the  banks 
were  overflowed,  and  the  current  swept 
along  furiously,  dashing  against  the  rocks, 
and  whirling  round  the  projecting  points. 

The  children  stopped,  and  gazed  upon 
the  scene  a  little  while,  and  then  Rollo 
said  he  was  going  to  sail  his  boats,  which 
he  had  brought  in  his  pocket. 

Just  then  Jonas  saw  a  plank  which  was 
lying  partly  on  the  bank  and  partly  in  the 


128  THE  FRESHET. 

water,  a  little  up  the  stream.  It  had 
been  placed  across  the  brook  some  dis- 
tance above,  for  a  bridge  ;  but  the  freshet 
had  brought  it  away,  and  it  had  drifted 
down  to  where  it  then  was. 

Jonas  said  he  would  find  a  place  for 
Lucy  to  stand  upon  with  it.  So  he  went 
and  pushed  off  this  plank,  and  let  it  float 
down  to  where  the  children  wTere  stand- 
ing ;  and  then  he  drew  it  up  upon  the 
shore,  and  laid  it  along,  so  that  Lucy 
could  stand  upon  it  safely,  and  launch  the 
pea-pod  boats. 

These  boats  were  soon  all  borne  away 
rapidly  down  the  stream,  out  of  sight; 
and  then  they  threw  in  sticks  and  chips, 
and  watched  them  as  they  sailed  away, 
and  whirled  around  in  the  eddies,  or 
swept  down  the  rapids.  Thus  they 
amused  themselves  a  long  time,  and  then 
slowly  returned  home. 


BLUEBERRYING 


"  The  bower  on  the  mountain." — p.  160. 


BLUEBERRYING. 


OLD   TRUMPETER. 

Rollo's  mother  advised  him,  when  he 
went  to  bed  the  evening  before  the  day 
fixed  upon  for  the  blue  berrying,  to  rise 
early  the  next  morning,  and  take  a  good 
reading  lesson  before  breakfast.  She  said 
he  would  enjoy  himself  much  more,  du- 
ring the  day,  if  he  performed  all  his  usual 
duties  before  he  went.  Rollo  according- 
ly arose  quite  early,  and,  when  he  came 
in  to  breakfast,  had  the  satisfaction  of  tell- 
ing his  father  that  he  had  read  his  morn- 
ing lesson,  and  prepared  his  basket,  and 
was  all  ready  to  go. 

He  wanted  Jonas  to  go  too,  and  as,  the 
last  time  when  he  asked  his  father's  per- 
mission that  he  should  go,  he  lost  his  re- 
quest by  asking  it  in  an  improper  manner, 
he  determined  to  be  careful  this  time. 

So  he   was    silent  at    breakfast  time 


132  BLUEBERRYING. 

while  his  father  and  mother  were  talking, 
and  then,  watching  an  opportunity  when 
they  seemed  disengaged,  he  asked  his 
father   if  Jonas  might  not  go  with  them. 

"  I  do  not  think  he  can  very  well,  for 
there  is  no  room  for  him.  Both  the  chaises 
will  be  full." 

"  But  could  not  he  ride  on  Old  Trum- 
peter ?  "  said  Rollo. 

Old  Trumpeter  was  a  white  horse, 
that  had  served  the  family  some  time,  but 
was  now  rather  old,  and  not  a  very  good 
traveller. 

Rollo's  father  hesitated  a  moment,  and 
then  said,  perhaps  he  might.  "  You  may 
go  and  tell  him  that  we  are  going,  and 
that  if  he  thinks  Old  Trumpeter  will  do  to 
carry  him,  he  may  go.  He  will  be  of 
great  help  to  us,  if  we  should  get  into  any 
difficulty." 

Rollo  thought  of  the  bears  that  he  ex- 
pected to  see  on  the  mountain,  and  ran 
to  tell  Jonas.  Jonas  was  glad  to  go.  So 
he  went  and  gave  Old  Trumpeter  some 
oats,  and  got  the  saddle  and  bridle  ready. 
He  also  got  out  a  pair  of  saddle-bags  that 
he  always  used  on  such  occasions,  and  put 
into  them  a  hatchet,  a  dipper,  a  box  of 


BLUEBERRYING.  133 

matches,  and  some  rope.  On  second 
thoughts,  he  concluded  it  would  be  best  to 
put  these  things  into  the  chaise-box,  and 
to  put  the  saddle-bags  on  his  horse  empty, 
as  he  might  want  them  to  bring  something 
home  in. 

After  breakfast,  Lucy  and  her  father, 
Rollo's  uncle  George,  drove  up  to  the  dodr, 
for  they  were  going  too ;  and  in  a  short 
time  you  might  have  seen  all  the  party 
driving  away  from  the  door— Rollo's  fa- 
ther and  mother  in  the  first  chaise,  uncle 
George,  and  Rollo,  and  Lucy,  in  the 
second,  and  Jonas  on  Old  Trumpeter  be- 
hind. 

They  rode  on  for  a  mile  or  two,  and 
then  turned  off  of  the  main  road  into  the 
woods,  and  went  on  by  a  winding  and 
beautiful  road  until  they  came  in  sight  of 
a  range  of  mountains,  one  of  which  seemed 
very  high  and  near. 

"  Is  that  Benalgon  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  I  do  not  know,"  said  his  uncle  ;  h  I 
»have  never  been  to  it  before ;  but  I  sup- 
pose Jonas  can  tell." 

"  I  will  call  him,"  said  Rollo.  So  he 
turned  round,  and  kneeled  up  upon  the 
seat,  so  that  he  could  look  out    behind 


134  BLUEBERRYING. 

the  chaise,  for  the  back  curtain  was 
up.  Lucy  did  the  same,  but  Jonas  was 
not  to  be  seen.  They  looked  a  little  long- 
er, and  presently  saw  him  coming  along 
round  a  curve  in  the  road.  They  beck- 
oned to  him,  and  as  he  rode  up,  they  saw 
he  had  a  bush  in  his  hand.  He  came  up 
to1  the  side  of  the  chaise,  and  handed  it  to 
Rollo.  It  was  a  large  blueberry-bush,  cov- 
ered with  beautiful  ripe  blueberries.  Rollo 
took  them,  and  admired  them  very  much  ; 
and  at  first  he  was  going  to  divide  them  be- 
tween Lucy  and  himself;  but  they  conclu- 
ded, on  the  whole,  to  send  them  forward 
to  his  mother.  Jonas  told  them  the  moun- 
tain before  them  was  Benalgon,  and  rode 
on  to  carry  the  blueberry-bush  to  the 
other  chaise.  Presently  he  came  back, 
bringing  it  with  him,  except  a  small  sprig 
which  Rollo's  mother  had  taken  off.  The 
rest  she  had  sent  back  to  the  children. 

"  Well,  Jonas,"  said  uncle  George, 
when  he  got  back,  "  I  do  not  see  but  that 
Old  Trumpeter  is  strong  enough  to  carry 
you  yet." 

"  O  yes,  sir,"  said  Jonas,  "  he  is  strong 
enough  to  carry  half  a  dozen  like  me." 

"  O,  uncle  George,"  said  Rollo,  "  let  him 


BLUEBERRYING.  135 

carry  me  too  with  Jonas.  I  can  ride  be- 
hind." 

"  Very  weh ;  if  you  want  to  ride  with 
him  a  little  while,  you  may,  if  Jonas  is 
willing." 

Jonas  was,  and  Rollo  got  out,  and 
climbed  up  upon  a  stump,  by  the  side  of 
the  road.  Jonas  drove  up  to  the  stump, 
and  Rollo  clambered  up  behind  him,  with 
a  switch  in  his  hand. 

"Now,  Jonas,"  said  he,  "whenever you 
want  him  to  go  any  faster,  you  just  speak  to 
me,  and  I  will  touch  him  up  with  my  switch." 

Jonas  said  he  would,  and  they  jogged 
along  behind  the  chaise.  Lucy  kneeled 
upon  the  cushion,  and  looked  out  behind, 
talking  with  Rollo. 


DEVIATION. 


They  went  on  so  very  quietly  for  some 
time,  until  Jonas  said  there  was  a  turn  in 
the  road  on  before  them,  where  there  was 
a  foot-path  that  led  across  a  ravine,  by  a 
nearer  way  than  the  chaise-road,  and  pro- 
posed   that   Rollo   should   ask  leave   for 


136  BLUEBERRYING. 

Jonas  and  himself  to  go  across  on  horse- 
back, and  wait  for  the  chaises,  when  they 
should  come  out  on  the  main  road. 

So  the j  rode  up  to  the  chaise,  and  Rollo 
put  the  question  to  his  uncle  George. 

His  reply  was  that  he  could  not  say  any 
thing  about  it ;  Rollo  must  go  and  ask  his 
father. 

"  Would  you  go  ?  "  said  Jonas. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Well,  touch  up  Old  Trumpeter  then." 

So  Rollo  applied  his  switch,  and  the 
horse  trotted  on  fast.  Rollo  had  hard 
work  to  hold  on,  but  he  clasped  his  arm 
tight  around  Jonas's  waist,  and  succeeded 
in  keeping  his  seat. 

Rollo's  father  and  mother  were  riding 
some  distance  before  the  m*- but  they  saw 
Jonas  coming  up,  and  rode  slowly,  that  he 
might  overtake  them. 

"  Well,  Rollo,"  said  his  father,  "  how 
do  you  like  riding  double  ?  " 

"  Very  much,"  said  Rollo  ;  "  and  we 
want  you  to  let  Jonas  and  I  cut  across  by 
the  horse-path  through  the  valley,  and  wait 
for  you  at  the  mill." 

"  Is  there  a  horse-path  across  here,  Jo- 
nas ?  " 


BLUEBERRYING.  137 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Jonas. 

"  Is  it  a  good  path  ?  " 

"It  is  rather  rough,  sir,  through  the 
woods  and  bushes  ;  but  it  is  a  pretty  good 
road."         '     •-• 

Rollo's  father  sat  hesitating  a  moment, 
and  then  said — 

"  You  may  go,  if  you  choose,  but  I  ad- 
vise you  not  to." 

"  Why  do  you  advise  us  not  to  ?  "  said 
Rollo. 

"  Why,  you  may  get  into  some  difficulty, 
and  so  we  get  separated." 

"  Yes,  but,"  said  Rollo,  "  it  is  not  near 
so  far  across,  and  we  shall  have  time  to 
get  through  to  the  mill  long  before  you 
come  along." 

"  Very  well,  you  may  do  as  you 
please." 

"  Jonas,  what  would  you  do  ?  Would 
you  go,  or  not  ?  " 

"  I  think  I  would  not  go,  if  your  father 
thinks  we  had  better  not." 

"  I  want  to  go  very  much,"  said  Rollo. 

"  Very  well,"  said  his  father  ;  "  you  are 
willing  to  go  with  him,  I  suppose,  Jonas, 
are  you  not  ?  " 

"  O  yes,  sir,"  said  Jonas. 

/*  M*  . 


138  BLUEBERRYING. 

"  Well,"  said  Rollo,  "  let  us  go.  We 
will  be  very  careful,  father,  not  to  get  into 
any  difficulty." 

So  the  two  chaises  rode  on,  and  Jonas 
and  Rollo,  in  a  few  minutes,  turned  off  by 
a  narrow  path  that  struck  into  the  woods. 
Just  as  they  were  bending  down  their 
heads  to  pass  under  a  great  branch  of  a 
tree,  Rollo  looked  along,  and  saw  Lucy 
waving  her  handkerchief  to  him,  as  the 
chaise  which  she  was  in  disappeared  by  a 
turn  of  the  road. 

Rollo  at  first  felt  a  little  uneasy  to  think 
that  he  had  deserted  his  cousin,  as  it  were. 
He  thought  that  he  should  not  have  liked 
it  exactly,  if  she  had  gone  off,  and  left  him 
alone  so  in  the  chaise.  However,  it  was 
now  too  late  to  repent,  and  his  attention 
was  attracted  by  the  wild  and  romantic 
scene  around  him.  The  path  descend- 
ed obliquely,  by  a  rough,  wet,  and  stony 
way,  through  a  dark  forest.  He  heard 
the  sighing  of  the  wind,  in  the  tops  of 
the  tall  trees,  and  the  mellow  notes  of 
forest  birds,  far  off,  and  high,  which  came 
rich  and  sweet  to  his  ear  with  a  peculiar 
expression  of  solitude  and  loneliness. 

The  boys  rode  on,  and  the  path  became 


BLUEBERRYING.  139 

more  and  more  slippery,  stony,  and  steep. 
Rollo  clung  tight  to  Jonas,  and  began  to 
be  somewhat  afraid.  He  would  have  pro- 
posed to  go  back,  but  he  was  ashamed  to 
do  it.  After  a  little  time,  he  asked  Jonas 
whether  the  path  was  as  bad  as  that  all 
the  way. 

"  As  bad  as  this !  "  said  Jonas ;  "  we 
call  this  very  good.  I  will  show  you  the 
bad  road  pretty  soon." 

Rollo  looked  frightened,  but  said  noth- 
ing. 

"  The  road  seems  more  wet  than  com- 
mon to-day,"  said  Jonas,  "  I  suppose  on 
account  of  the  rain  yesterday  ;  and  I  de- 
clare," said  he,  "  I  am  afraid  we  shall  find 
the  brook  up." 

"  The  brook  up  !  "  said  Rollo. 

"Yes — why  did  not  I  think  of  that 
before  ?  However,  we  must  go  on  now." 

"  Why?"  said  Rollo.  "  Why  cannot  we 
go  back  ?  " 

"  O,  because  we  should  be  too  late ; 
besides,  there  is  no  danger^only  we  may 
have  to  wade  a  little." 

As  they  went  on,  the  mud  in  the  road 
grew  deeper  and  deeper,  and  presently 
Old  Trumpeter's  legs  sunk  far  down  among 


140  BLUEBERRYING. 

roots  and  mire.  Rollo  began  to  feel  more 
and  more  alarmed,  and  heartily  wished 
that  he  had  taken  his  father's  advice. 

Soon  after  they  came  to  a  place  where 
the  path,  for  some  distance  before  them, 
was  full  of  water,  deep  and  miry.  Jonas 
said  he  thought  that  they  had  better  go  out 
upon  one  side ;  so  he  made  the  horse  step 
over  a  log  and  go  in  among  the  trees  and 
bushes.  The  branches  brushed  and 
scratched  Rollo  unmercifully,  though  he 
bent  down,  and  leaned  over  to  this  side 
and  that,  continually,  to  escape  them.  He 
asked  Jonas  why  this  path  had  not  dried, 
as  well  as  the  main  road,  where  the  chaises 
had  gone  ;  and  Jonas  told  him  that  the  sun 
and  the  wind  were  the  great  means  of 
drying  the  open  road,  but  that  this  narrow 
and  secluded  path  was  shaded  from  the 
sun,  and  sheltered  from  the  wind,  and 
that  the  water  consequently  remained  a 
long  time  among  the  moss,  and  roots,  and 
mire. 

After  a  time,  they  got  back  into  the 
path  again,  and,  going  on  a  little  farther, 
they  came  down  to  the  margin  of  the 
brook.  They  found  that  it  ivas  "  up,"  as 
Jonas  had  feared.     At  the  place  where 


BLUEBERRYING.  141 

the  path  went  down  and  crossed  the  brook, 
a  deep  cut  had  been  worn  in  the  two  op- 
posite banks,  and  this  was  filled  with  wa- 
ter, and  above  and  below  the  stream 
rushed  on  in  a  torrent.  Jonas  hesitated 
a  moment,  and  then  asked  Rollo  if  he 
thought  he  could  hold  on,  while  thej  were 
riding  through.  Rollo  said  he  was  afraid 
it  was  so  deep  as  to  drown  them.  Jonas 
1  then  said  that  he  might  get  off  and  stand 
upon  a  rock  by  the  side  of  the  path,  while 
he  rode  through,  first,  to  see  how  it  was, 
and  that  then  he  would  come  back  for 
him. 

So  Rollo  got  off,  in  fear  and  trembling, 
and  stood  on  the  rock,  while  Jonas  urged 
his  horse  into  the  water.  Old  Trumpeter 
did  not  much  like  this  kind  of  travelling, 
but  Jonas  half  persuaded  and  half  com- 
pelled him  to  go  through.  When  he  was 
in  the  middle,  the  water  came  up  so  high, 
that  Jonas  was  obliged  to  lift  up  his  feet 
to  keep  them  from  being  wet.  Presently, 
however,  it  became  more  shoal,  as  the 
horse  walked  slowly  along ;  and  at  last  he 
fairly  reached  the  dry  ground,  and  stood 
dripping  on  the  bank. 

Rollo  was  glad  to  see  that  the  water 


142  BLUEBERRYING. 

was  no  deeper,  but  was  still  afraid  to  go 
over.  He  told  Jonas  he  could  not  go  over 
there,  and  that  he  must  go  back  with 
him. 

"  No,"  said  Jonas,  "  that  would  not  be 
right." 

"  Why,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  can  ride  fast, 
and  overtake  them." 

"  Not  very  soon,"  said  Jonas.  "  If  we 
go  back  now,  they  will  get  to  the  mill  be- 
fore us,  and  then  will  be  very  anxious  and 
unhappy,  thinking  that  something  has  hap- 
pened to  us  ;  and  perhaps  your  father  will 
come  through  here  after  us.  Now  it  was 
your  own  plan,  coming  across  here,  and 
you  ought  not  to  make  other  people  suffer 
by  it.  Your  father  advised  you  not  to 
come." 

"  I  know  it,"  said  Rollo ;  "  what  a 
foolish  boy  I  was  !  I  shall  certainly  be 
drowned." 

"  O  no,"  said  Jonas,  "  there  is  no  real 
danger,  or  I  should  not  make  you  go  ; " 
and  so  saying,  he  came  back  slowly  through 
the  water.  "See,"  said  he,  "it  is  not 
very  deep." 


BLUEBERRYING.  143 


LITTLE  MOSETTE. 

After  some  further  persuasion,  Rollo  got 
ou  behind  him,  and  they  began  to  make 
their  way  slowly  through  the  water  again. 
Old  Trumpeter  staggered  along,  but  not 
very  unsteadily  on  the  whole,  until  he  got 
a  little  past  the  middle,  when  he  blun- 
dered upon  a  stone  on  the  bottom,  which 
he  could  not  see,  and  fell  down  on  his 
knees.  Jonas  caught  up  his  feet,  in  an 
instant,  and  Rollo  had  his  already  drawn 
up  behind  him,  and  they  both  grasped  the 
saddle  convulsively.  The  horse  happened 
to  regain  his  feet  again  in  a  moment,  so 
that  they  contrived  to  hold  on  ;  and  in  a 
few  minutes  they  were  drawn  out  safely 
upon  the  shore,  without  even  getting  their 
feet  wet. 

"Well,  Old  Trumpeter,"  said  Jonas, 
"you  have  done  pretty  well  for  you,  and  you 
have  got  the  mire  washed  off  your  legs,  at 
any  rate.     But,  Rollo,  what  is  that  ?  " 

He  pointed  back,  as  he  said  this,  to  a 
little  tuft  floating  round  and  round  in  a  small 
eddy,  made  by  a  turn  of  the  brook,  just 
above  where  they  had  crossed.    He  turned 


144 


BLTJEBERRYING. 


his  horse  towards  it.    '"It  is  a  bird's 
nest,"  said  he. 

"  So  it  is,"  said  Rollo;  "and  I  verily 
helieve  there  is  a  little  bird  in  it." 


ill 

(98!*?- 

J§§8iH^e»P     ii  V7            - 7  :%s          ^ 

p^Tt 

(jfe              ^BBSIS 

9 

•t      ^W:  ■  ' 

•   .;     ~'-^Mi~SSk-  -:••••; 

i^E^'-flfsfiH 

- ''Wil  »  wKmmm 

B§j5| 

\  [Wm 

R§33iB 

bBSI 

Jonas  jumped  off  of  the  horse,  handed 
the  bridle  to  Rollo,  and  took  up  a  long 
stick  lying  on  the  ground,  and  very  gently 
and  cautiously  drew  the  nest  in  to  the 


JBLUEBERRYING.  145 

shore.  He  took  it  up  with  great  care, 
and  brought  it  to  Rollo.    . 

There  was  a  little  bird  in  it,  scarcely 
fledged.  Jonas  said  he  believed  it  was  a 
robin,  and  that  it  must  have  been  washed 
off  from  its  place  on  some  bush,  by  the 
freshet  in  the  brook.  The  bottom  of  the 
nest  was  soaked  through  by  the  water,  as 
if  it  had  been  floating  some  time  ;  and  the 
little  bird  kept  opening  its  mouth  wide* 
The  poor  little  thing  was  hungry,  and 
heard  Jonas  and  Rollo,  ami  thought  they 
were  its  mother,  come  to  give  it  something 
to  eat. 

"  What  shall  we  d.o  with  him  ?  "  said 
Rollo. 

"  He  will  die  if  we  leave  him  here," 
said  Jonas,  "  for  he  has  lost  his  mother  now. 
I  think  we  had  better  carry  him  home,  if 
we  can,  and  feed  him,  till  he  is  old  enough 
to  fly." 

"  He  is  hungry,"  said  Rollo ;  "let  us 
feed  him  now." 

"  We  have  not  any  thing  to  feed  him 
with.  Perhaps  I  can  catch  a  fly,  or  a 
grasshopper."  * 

"O,  that  will  not  do,"  said  Rollo; 
g  10  IT 


146  BLUEBERRYING. 

"you  might  as  well  kill  him  as  kill  a 
grasshopper." 

Jonas  could  not  reply  to  this,  and  they 
concluded  to  carry  nest  and  all  carefully 
to  the  mill,  and  show  it  to  Rollo's  father 
there.  But  how  to  carry  it  was  the  diffi- 
culty. If  either  of  them  undertook  to 
hold  it  in  one  hand,  he  was  afraid  the 
bird  might  be  jolted  out ;  and  neither  of 
them  had  but  one  hand  to  spare,  for  Rollo 
must  have  one  hand  to  hold  on  with,  and 
Jonas  one  to  drive.  At  last  Jonas  took 
off  his  cap,  and  placed  it  bottom  upwards 
on  the  saddle  before  him,  and  put  the  nest, 
with  the  bird  in  it,  in  that,  and  then  drove 
carefully  along.  The  road  grew  much 
smoother  and  better  after  they  passed  the 
brook ;  and,  after  going  on  a  short  distance 
farther,  they  came  in  sight  of  the  mill. 

They  had  been  detained  so  long  that 
the  chaises  had  reached  the  mill  before 
them  ;  and  the  party  in  the  chaises  were 
looking  out  down  the  path  where  they  ex- 
pected the  boys  were  to  come  out,  watch- 
ing for  them  with  considerable  interest. 

"  There  they  come  at  last,"  said  Lucy, 
as  she  perceived  a  movement  among  the 


BLUEBERRYING.  147 

bushes,  and  saw  Old  Trumpeter's  white 
head  coming  forward. 

"  Yes,"  said  Rollo's  mother,  "  but  they 
have  met  with  some  accident.  Jonas  has 
lost  his  cap." 

By  this  time  the  boys  had  emerged 
from  the  bushes,  and  were  coming  along 
the  path  slowly,  Jonas  bareheaded,  and 
Rollo  holding  on  carefully.  Lucy  saw 
that  Jonas  was  holding  something  before 
him,  on  the  saddle,  and  wondered  what  it 
was.  Rollo's  mother  said  she  was  afraid 
they  had  got  hurt. 

As  soon  as  they  came  within  hearing, 
Rollo  heard  his  father's  voice  calling  out 
to  him, 

"  Rollo,  what  is  the  matter  ?  Have  you 
got  into  any  difficulty  ?  " 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo ;  "we  had  some 
difficulty ;  and  I  should  be  sorry  I  did  not 
take  your  advice,  only  then  we  should  not 
have  found  this  little  bird." 

"  What  bird  ?"  said  they  all. 

By  this  time,  they  had  come  up  near 
the  chaises,  and  Jonas  carefully  lifted  the 
birdsnest  out  of  his  cap,  and  held  it  so  that 
they  could  all  see  it,  while  Rollo  told  them 
the  story.     They  all  looked  much  pleased, 


148  BLUEBERRYING. 

but  Lucy  seemed  in  delight.  She  wanted 
to  have  it  go  in  their  chaise,  and  asked 
Rollo  to  let  her  hold  the  nest  in  her 
lap. 

Rollo  did  not  answer  very  directly,  for 
he  was  busy  looking  at  the  bird,— seeing 
him  open  his  mouth,  and  wishing  he  had 
something  to  give  him  to  eat. 

"  Father,"  said  he,  "  what  shall  we  feed 
him  with?  Jonas  was  going  to  catch  a 
grasshopper,  but  I  thought  that  would 
not  be  right." 

"  Why  not  ?  "  said  uncle  George. 

"  Because,"  said  Rollo,  "he  has  as  good 
a  right  to  his  life  as  the  bird.  Has  not  he, 
father  ?  " 

"  Not  exactly,"  said  his  father :  "  a  bird 
is  an  animal  of  much  higher  grade  than  a 
grasshopper,  and  is  probably  much  more 
sensible  of  pain  and  pleasure,  and  his  life 
is  of  more  value  ;  just  as  a  man  is  a  much 
higher  animal  than  a  bird.  It  would  be 
right  to  kill  a  bird  to  save  a  man's  life, 
even  if  he  were  only  an  animal ;  and  so  it 
would  be  right  to  destroy  a  grasshopper, 
or  a  worm,  to  save  a  robin." 

"  But  I  read  in  a  book  once,"  said  Lucy, 
"that,  when  we  tread  on  a  worm,  he  feels 


BLUEBERRYING.  149 

as  much  pain  in  being  killed  as  a  giant 
would." 

"  I  do  not  think  it  is  true,"  said  he.  "  I 
think  that  there  is  a  vast  diversity  among 
the  different  animals,  in  respect  to  their 
sensibility  to  pain,  according  to  their  struc- 
ture, and  the  delicacy  of  their  organiza- 
tion. I  think  a  crew  of  a  fishing-vessel 
might  catch  a  whole  cargo  of  mackerel, 
and  not  cause  as  much  pain  as  one  of 
their  men  would  suffer  in  having  his  leg 
bitten  off  by  a  shark." 

"Well,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "do  you 
think  we  had  better  give  him  a  grasshop- 
per?" 

"  O  no,"  said  Lucy ;  "  a  grasshop- 
per would  not  be  good  to  eat,  he  has  got 
so  many  elbows  sticking  out.  Let  us 
give  him  some  blueberries." 

,  "  O  yes,"  said  Rollo,  "  that  would  be 
beautiful." 

So  he  slid  down  off  of  Old  Trumpeter's 
back,  and  ran  to  the  side  of  the  road  to 
see  if  he  could  not  find  some   blueberries. 

He  brought  a  few  in  his  hand,  and  his 
father  took  them,  saying  that  he  would 
feed  the  bird  for  him.  He  squeezed  out 
the  pulp  of  the  berries,  and  then  made  a 


150  BLUEBERRYING. 

chirping  sound,  when  the  bird  opened  his 
mouth,  and  he  fed  him  with  the  soft  pulp, 
and  threw  away  the  skins.  After  giving 
the  bird  two  or  three  berries  in  this  way, 
they  put  him  back  into  the  nest,  and  gave 
the  nest  to  Lucy  to  hold  in  her  lap,  and 
all  the  party  prepared  to  go  on. 

They  rode  along  about  a  mile  farther, 
and  then  came  to  the  place  where  they 
must  leave  the  horses,  and  prepare  to  as- 
cend the  mountain  on  foot.  They  unhar- 
nessed them,  so  that  they  might  stand  more 
quietly,  and  then  fastened  them  to  trees 
by  the  side  of  the  road. 

While  they  were  thus  taking  care  of 
their  horses,  Rollo  and  Lucy  were  standing 
by,  with  Rollo's  mother  looking  at  the 
bird. 

"  What  are  you  going  to  do  with  him, 
Rollo  ?  "  said  his  mother. 

"  Why,  I  should  like  to  carry  him  home, 
and  keep  him,  if  you  are  willing." 

"  I  am,  on  one  condition."  , 

"  What  is  that  ?  " 

"  You  must  keep  him  in  a  cage  with  the 
door  always  open,  so  that,  as  soon  as  he  is 
old  enough  to  fly  away,  he  may  go  if  he 
chooses." 


BLUEBERRYING.  151 

"  Then  he  will  certainly  fly  away,  and 
we  shall  lose  him  forever,"  said  Lucy. 

"  That  is  the  only  condition,"  replied 
Rollo's  mother.  , 

"  But  why,  mother,"  said  he,  "  why 
may  we  not  keep  him  shut  up  safe  ?  " 

"  If  I  were  to  tell  you  the  reasons  now, 
they  would  not  satisfy  you,  you  are  so  eager 
to  keep  him.  I  think  you  had  better  deter- 
mine to  comply  with  the  condition,  good 
humoredly,  and  say  no  more  about  it,  but 
try  to  think  of  a  name  for  him." 

"  Well,  mother,  what  do  you  think  would 
be  a  good  name  ?  " 

"  I  do  not  know  :  you  and  Lucy  must 
think  of  one." 

Just  then  uncle  George  finished  tying 
his  horse,  and  came  along  to  where  the 
children  were  standing,  and,  hearing  their 
conversation,  and  finding  that  Lucy  and 
Rollo  were  perplexed  about  a  name,  he 
told  them  he  thought  they  might,  not  im- 
properly, call  him  Noah,  as,  like  Noah,  by 
floating  in  a  sort  of  ark,  he  was  saved 
from  a  flood.    ■ 

"  I  think  he  was  more  like  Moses  than 
Noah,"  said  Lucy. 

"Why?  "said  her  father. 


152  BLUEBERRYING. 

"  Because  Moses  was  a  little  thing 
when  they  found  him,  and  then  the  ark  of 
bulrushes  was  something  like  a  birdsnest. 
I  think  you  had  better  name  him  Moses, 
Rollo,"  said  she. 

Rollo  seemed  a  little  at  a  loss  :  he  said 
he  thought  he  was  a  good  deal  like  Moses, 
but  then  he  did  not  think  that  Moses  was 
a  very  pretty  name  for  a  bird. 

"  Do  you  think  it  is,  mother  ?  "  said  he. 

"  I  do  not  know  but  that  it  would  do 
very  well.  You  might  alter  it  a  little  ;  call 
him  Mosette,  if  you  think  that  would  be 
any  better  for  a  bird's  name." 

Rollo  and  Lucy  repeated  the  name  Mo- 
sette to  themselves  several  times,  and  con- 
cluded that  they  should  like  it  very  much. 
By  this  time,  the  horses  were  all  ready, 
and  Jonas  recommended  that  they  should 
hide  Mosette  away  somewhere,  until  they 
returned  from  the  mountain,  for  it  would 
be  troublesome  to  them,  and  somewhat 
dangerous  to  the  bird,  to  carry  him  up  and 
down. 

The  children  approved  of  this  plan, 
though  they  were  rather  unwilling  to  part 
with  the  bird,  at  all.  They  went  just  into 
the  bushes,  and  found  a  very  secret  place, 


BLUEBERRYING    ■  153 

by  the  corner  of  a  large  rock,  where  the 
shrubs  and  wild  flowers  grew  thick,  so  that 
it  would  be  entirely  out  of  sight, 


GOING  UP. 


They  then  set  forward,  the  children  in 
advance  of  the  rest.  Jonas  walked  with 
Rollo  and  Lucy,  and  he  had  round  his 
waist  a  broad  leather  belt,  which  he  al- 
ways wore  on  such  occasions,  and  which 
had,  on  one  side,  his  hatchet  and  knife, 
and  on  the  other  a  sort  of  bag  or  pocket, 
containing  several  things,  such  as  matches, 
a  little  dipper,  &,c. 

Rollo's  father  and  mother,  and  his  uncle 
George,  walked  along  behind  them.  The 
way  was,  for  some  distance,  a  sort  of  cart- 
path,  too  steep  and  rough  for  a  chaise, 
but  hard  and  dry,  and  pretty  comfortable 
walking.  Rollo  and  Lucy  asked  Jonas  if 
he  would  not  tell  them  a  story,  as  they 
went  along,  to  beguile  the  way. 

Jonas  began  a  story,  about  a  boy  that 
lived  a  long  time  on  a  mountain  alone ; 
but  he  had  not  proceeded  far,  before  they 


154  BLUEBERRYING. 

heard  a  voice  behind,  calling  them.  They 
looked  back,  and  saw  that  Rollo's  father 
wasbeckoning  them  to  stop.      , 

They  waited  till  he  came  up,  and  he 
told  them  he  wanted  to  give  them  their 
orders  for  the  day ;  and  they  were  rules,  he 
said,  which  ought  to  be  observed  on  all 
berrying  expeditions,  by  children. 

" First"  said  he,  "  always  keep  in 
sight  of  me.  For  this  purpose,  watch  me 
all  the  time,  when  wTe  are  stopping,  and 
keep  before,  rather  than  behind,  when  we 
are  walking. 

"  Second.  Take  no  unnecessary  steps, 
but  keep  in  the  right  path,  and  walk 
slowly  and  steadily  there,  so  as  to  save 
your  strength.  Otherwise  you  will  get 
tired  out  very  soon. 

"  Third.  Do  not  touch  any  flower  or 
berry  that  you  see,  except  blueberries, 
without  first  showing  them  to  one  of  us." 

The  children  listened  to  these  rules,  and 
promised  to  obey  them,  and  then  walked 
on.  They  tried  to  walk  slowly  and  stead- 
ily, listening  to  Jonas's  story.  They  turned 
off,  after  a  time,  into  a  narrower  and  steeper 
path,  and  ascended,  stepping  from  stone  to 
stone.     The  trees  and  bushes  hung  over 


BLUEBERRYING.  155 

their  heads,  making  the  walk  shady  and 
cool. 

After  slowly  ascending  in  this  way,  for 
some  time,  they  came  out  of  the  woods 
into  an  opening  of  rocky  ground,  and 
patches  of  blueberry-bushes.  They  saw, 
also,  at  some  distance  before  them,  three 
or  four  boys,  sitting  upon  a  rock,  with 
pails  and  baskets  in  their  hands,  talking 
and  laughing  loud.  They  did  not  take 
much  notice  of  them,  but  walked  on  quiet- 
ly. They  were  going  on  directly  towards 
them,  but  Rollo's  father  called  them,  and 
pointed  for  them  to  turn  off  to  the  right, 
round  a  rocky  precipice  which  was  in  that 
direction. 

The  children  were  turning  accordingly, 
when  they  heard  a  shout  from  the  boys 
before  them, — "  Hallo, — come  this  way, 
and  we  will-  show  you  where  the  blueber- 
ries are." 

"Father,"  said  Rollo,  as  he  stopped 
and  turned  round  to  his  father,  "  the  boys 
say  they  will. show  us  the  blueberries,  out 
that  way  :  shall  we  go  and  see  ?  " 

"  No,"  said  his  father  in  a  low  voice, 
so  that  the  boys  did  not  hear.  "No:  go 
the  way  I  told  you." 


156  BLUEBERRYING. 

They  went  along,  and  presently  got 
round  the  precipice  out  of  sight  of  the 
boys  again.  They  walked  slowly  until 
their  parents  overtook  them. 

"Father,"  said  Rollo,  "why  could  you 
not  let  us  go  out  with  those  boys  ?  They 
said  they  were  thickest  out  there." 

"  Because,"  said  he,  "  I  presume  they 
are  not  good  boys,  and  I  do  not  want  you 
to  have  any  thing  to  do  with  them." 

"  But,  father,  they  must  be  good  boys, 
or  they  would  not  want  to  show  us  the 
blueberries.  If  they  were  bad,  selfish 
boys,  they  would  want  to  keep  all  the 
good  places  to  themselves." 

If  Rollo  had  only  asked  his  father,  in  a 
modest  manner,  how  it  could  be  that  the 
boys  were  bad,  when  they  wanted  to 
show  him  the  best  place  for  blueberries,  it 
would  have  been  very  proper ;  but  his  man- 
ner of  speaking  showed  a  silly  confidence 
in  his  own  opinion,  which  was  very  wrong. 
His  father,  however,  did  not  attempt  to 
reason  with  him,  but  only  said, 

"  I  think  they  are  bad  boys,  for  I  over- 
heard them  using  bad  language  ;  and  I 
wish  you  to  have  nothing  to  do  with 
them."  ' 


BLUEBERRYINT5.  V  157 

He  then  found  a  good  place  for  them 
to  begin  to  gather  their  berries.  It  was  a 
beautiful  spot  of  open  ground,  between 
the  thick  woods  on  one  side,  and  a  broken, 
rocky  precipice  on  the  other. 

Uncle  George  took  Jonas  forward  alone, 
until  they  were  out  of  sight,  and  presently 
returned  without  him.  Rollo  asked  where 
Jonas  was  gone,  and  his  uncle  told  him 
that  that  was  a  secret  at  present.  They 
heard,  soon  after,  the  strokes  of  his  hatchet 
in  the  woods,  on  before  them,  but  could 
not  imagine  what  he  could  be  doing. 

Thus  things  went  on  very  pleasantly, 
and  they  gathered  a  large  quantity  of  ber- 
ries. There  was,  indeed,  in  the  course  of 
the  day,  a  serious  difficulty  between  Rollo 
and  the  bad  boys ;  and  there  is  an  ac- 
count of  it  given  in  the  next  story  of 
"  Trouble  on  the  Mountain."  With 
this  exception,  every  thing  went  on  well 
until  about  noon,  when  Rollo  observed 
that  Jonas  had  been  missing  a  long  time. 


158  BLUEBERRYING. 


THE  SECRET  OUT. 

"  Where  is  Jonas,  all  this  time  ?  "  said 
Rollo  to  Lucy. 

Lucy  said  that  he  had  been  busy,  a 
long  time,  doing  something  over  beyond 
some  rocks,  but  she  did  not  know  what, 
for  her  father  told  her  she  must  not  go  to 
see.  Rollo  wondered  what  the  secret 
was,  and  he  was  just  going  to  ask  his 
father  to  let  him  go  and  see  what  Jonas 
was  doing,  when  they  saw  him  coming 
out  from  the  bashes.  He  came  up  to 
Rollo's  father,  and  told  him  that  it  was  all 
ready.  Then  Rollo's  father  called  to  all 
the  company,  and  told  them  it  was  time  to 
stop  gathering  berries,  and  they  might 
take  up  their  baskets  and  follow  him. 

The  baskets  and  pails  were  heavy  and 
full,  and  the  whole  party  walked  along, 
carrying  them  carefully  towards  the  place 
where  Jonas  had  come  from.  Rollo's 
father  led  the  way.  They  entered  into  a 
little  thicket,  and  passed  through  it  by  a 
narrow  path.  They  came  out  presently 
into  a  sort  of  opening,  on  a  brow  of  the 
mountain.     On  one  side  they  could  look 


BLUEBERRYING.  159 

down  upon  a  vast  extent  of  country,  ex- 
hibiting a  beautiful  variety  of  forests, 
rivers,  villages,  and  farms.  On  the  other 
side  was  a  rocky  precipice,  rising  abruptly 
to  a  considerable  height,  and  then  sloping 
off  towards  the  summit  of  the  mountain. 
They  walked  along  a  few  steps  on  a 
smooth  surface  of  the  rock,  between  patches 
of  grass  and  blueberry-bushes,  until  Lucy 
and  Rollo  ran  forward  to  a  brook  which 
came  foaming  down  the  precipice,  and 
then,  after  tumbling  along  over  rocks  a 
little  way,  took  another  foaming  leap 
down  the  mountain,  and  was  lost  among 
the  trees  below. 

The  party  all  stepped  carefully  over  this 
brook,  and  then  walked  along  up  the  bank 
on  the  opposite  side  until  they  came  to 
the  precipice.  Here  they  were  surprised 
and  pleased  to  see  a  large  bovver  built,  in 
front  of  a  little  sort  of  cavern  or  recess  in 
the  rock.  Jonas  had  built  it  of  large  limbs 
of  trees  and  bushes,  which  he  had  leaned 
up  against  the  rock,  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
enclose  a  large  space  within.  There  was 
an  opening  left  round  on  the  farther  side, 
next  the  rock,  and  they  all  went  round 
and  went  in — Rollo  first,  then  Lucy,  then 


160  BLUEBERRYING. 

the  others.  They  found  that  smooth 
and  clean  logs  and  stones  were  arranged 
around  the  sides  of  the  bower ;  and  in  the 
middle,  on  a  carpet  of  leaves,  was  very 
abundant  provision  for  a  rustic  dinner.* 

There  was  bread,  and  butter,  and  ham, 
and  gingerbread,  and  pie,  and  glasses  for 
water  from  the  brook.  Rollo  and  Lucy 
wondered  how  all  those  things  could  have 
got  up  the  mountain.  Presently,  however, 
they  recollected  that,  when  they  were  com- 
ing up,  Jonas  had  two  covered  baskets  to 
bring,  and  they  thought,  at  the  time,  that 
they  seemed  to  be  heavy. 

Thus  the  day  passed  away,  and  towards 
evening  they  came  down  the  mountain. 
Some  remarkable  things  happened  when 
they  were  coming  down,  which  will  be 
related  in  the  story  called  "  Trouble  on 
the  Mountain." 

*  See  picture  at  the  beginning  of  this  story. 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN, 


Coming  down  the  mountain." — p.  181, 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 


BOASTING. 


"  How  pleasant  it  is  here  !  "  said  Rollo 
to  his  cousin  Lucy,  as  they  were  gath- 
ering blueberries  high  up  on  old  Mount 
Benalgon,  the  day  they  went  up  with 
Rollo's  father  and  mother,  and  uncle; 
"  and  how  thick  the  blueberries  are, 
Lucy !  " 

"  Yes,"  said  Lucy,  "they  are  very  thick, 
1  think ;  and  how  far  we  can  see  now, 
we  are  up  here  so  high !  I  wish  we  were 
up  on  that  great  high  rock." 

Rollo  looked  where  Lucy  pointed,  and 
he  saw,  away  above  them,  a  rocky  sum- 
mit projecting  out  from  the  mountain. 
The  front  of  the  rock  was  ragged  and  pre- 
cipitous, but  it  was  flat  and  mossy  upon 
the  top,  and  firs  and  other  evergreen  trees 
grew  there,  some  of  them  hanging  over 
the  edge. 


164        TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

"  I  wish  I  could  get  up  there,"  said 
Lucy. 

"  I  wish  I  could  too,"  said  Rollo.  "  I 
should  like  to  climb  up  one  of  those  trees 
which  hangs  over,  and  then  I  could  look 
down." 

"  O,  Rollo,"  said  Lucy,  "  you  would  not 
dare  to  climb  up  one  of  those  trees." 

"  Yes,  I  should  dare  to,"  said  Rollo. 

Rollo  was  sometimes  a  proud,  boasting 
boy,  pretending  that  he  could  do  great 
things,  and  talking  very  largely.  This 
was  one  of  his  greatest  faults ;  and  when- 
ever he  seemed  to  be  in  this  boasting  mood, 
he  almost  always  got  into  some  difficulty 
after  it. ,  There  is  a  text  in  the  Bible  that 
was  proved  true,  very  often,  in  Rollo's 
case.  It  is  this — "  Pride  cometh  before 
destruction,  and  a  haughty  spirit  before  a 
fall."  Rollo  had  a  sad  fall  this  day,  though 
it  was  not  from  that  high  rock.  It  was  a 
different  sort  of  a  fall  from  that,  as  we 
shall  presently  see. 

"  Lucy,"  said  he  again,  "  I  do  not  be- 
lieve but  that  I  could  get  up  upon  that 
rock  myself.     I  can  climb  rocks." 

"  O  no,  you  could  not,"  said  Lucy. 

"  Why,  yes,  I  see  a  way." 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.        165 

"  Which  way  ?  " 

**  O,  round  by  that  great  black  log. 
There  is  a  path  there  through  the  bush- 
es." 

"  O  no,"  said  Lucy,  "  you  could  not 
get  up  there.  But  there  are  some  boys 
by  that  log ;  what  boys  are  they  ?  " 

Rollo  looked.  They  were  some  boys 
which  they  had  seen  coming  up  the  moun- 
tain, and  Rollo's  father  had  warned  him 
not  to  go  near  them.  They  had  wanted 
Rollo  to  go  with  them  before,  but  his 
father  had  forbidden  it.  Rollo  wanted  to 
go,  and  now  he  was  glad  to  see  them 
again  ;  but  Lucy  was  sorry. 


GETTING  IN  TROUBLE. 

The  blueberries  were  very  thick  and 
large,  and  the  bottoms  of  the  baskets 
were  soon  covered  with  them.  Each 
one  picked  where  he  found  them  most 
plenty. 

Rollo  and  Lucy  kept  pretty  near  to- 
gether, talking,  and  gradually  strayed  away 
to  some  distance  from  the  rest  of  the  party. 


166        TROUBLE   ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

After  a  little  while,  Rollo  looked  up,  and 
saw  the  three  boys  pretty  near  them.  As 
soon  as  Lucy  saw  them  so  near,  she  moved 
along  towards  their  parents ;  and  Rollo 
ought  to  have  done  so  too,  but  he  remained 
where  he  was,  and  presently  one  of  the 
boys  came  up  to  him. 

"  Why  did  you  not  come  up  where  we 
were  ?  "  said  he.  "  They  were  thicker  out 
there." 

"  My  father  would  not  let  me,"  said 
Rollo. 

"O,  come  along,"  said  the  boy;  "he 
will  not  care.  Besides,  he  will  not  know 
it.  He  is  busy  picking  by  himself.  He 
does  not  mind  where  you  are." 

Rollo  thought  this  was  not  exactly  the 
way  that  a  good  boy  would  speak  of  obey- 
ing a  father,  but  he  wanted  very  much  to 
see  the  place  where  the  berries  were  so 
much  thicker. 

"  How  far  is  it  ?  "  said 'he  to  the  boy. 

"  O,  it  is  only  a  little  way — -just  around 
that  rock." 

By  this  time  the  other  two  boys  came 
up,  and  they  talked  with  Rollo  a  little 
while,  and  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to 
go.     He  said  finally  that  he  would  go  and 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.         167 

ask  his  father.  So  he  left  his  basket,  and 
went  and  asked  his  father  if  he  might 
just  go  with  those  boys  round  the  rock. 
He  said  the  blueberries  were  much  thick- 
er around  there,  and  also  that  he  had  been 
talking  with  the  boys,  and. he  was  sure 
they  were  good  boys. 

"  No,  Rollo,"  said  his  father,  decidedly, 
*  I  cannot  think  that  any  boys  that  use 
bad  language  can  be  good  boys,  or  safe 
companions  for  you.  I  had  rather  you 
would  keep  with  us.  If  they  speak  to 
you,  answer  them  civilly  ;  but  the  less  you 
have  to  say  to  them  or  do  with  them,  the 
better.  In  fact,  I  had  rather  you  would 
not  go  back  to  them  at  all." 

"  I  must,"  said  Rollo,  "  to  get  my  bas- 
ket." 

He  accordingly  returned  to  his  basket, 
and  told  the  boys  that  his  father  preferred 
that  he  should  stay  where  he  was. 

The  biggest  boy  of  the  three  was  a  rag- 
ged and  dirty-looking  boy;  the  others 
called  him  Jim,  and  he  talked  with  Rollo 
a  good  deal.  Rollo's  conscience  reproved 
him  for  not  leaving  them,  and  going  back 
to  his  father ;  but  he  wanted  to  stay  and 


168        TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

hear  their  talk,  and  he  quieted  his  con- 
science by  saying  to  himself  that  his  father 
told  him  to  treat  them  civilly.  At  first 
the  boys  were  careful  what  they  said  to 
Rollo ;  but  at  length  Jim  grew  more  and 
more  bold.  He  used  language  which 
Rollo  knew  was  wrong,  and  he  told  Rollo 
that  he  was  a  fool  to  stick  so  close  to  his 
father ;  that  he  was  big  enough  to  find, 
his  way  alone  all  over  the  mountain,  if  he 
was  of  a  mind  to. 

All  this  Rollo  was  silly  enough  to  be- 
lieve, and,  as  his  father  only  required  him 
to  keep  in  sight,  he  thought  he  would 
show  the  boys  that  he  was  not  so  much 
afraid  as  they  thought  he  was  ;  and  so  he 
gradually  moved  off  farther  and  farther 
from  his  parents,  as  he  went  on  gradually 
filling  up  his  basket.  Lucy,  in  the  mean 
time,  went  nearer  and  nearer  to  them,  and 
in  a  short  time  was  safely  gathering  her 
blueberries  by  her  aunt's  side. 

Things  went  on  so  for  an  hour.  Rollo's 
mother  asked  his  father  whether  he  had 
not  better  call  Rollo  to  them. 

"No,"  said  he ;  "  I  have  told  him  his 
duty  once,  plainly,  and  now,  if  he  does  not 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.    169 

do  it,    he  must  take    the    consequences. 
I  believe  I  shall  leave  him  to  himself." 

The  boys  went  on  talking  to  one  an- 
other and  to  Rollo,  telling  various  stories 
about  their  running  away  from  school, 
stealing  apples,  and  such  things.  Rollo 
was  much  interested  in  listening  to  them, 
though  he  knew,  all  the  time,  that  he  was 
doing  wrong.  But  he  had  not  the  cour- 
age to  ]eave  them  abruptly,  as  he  ought  to 
have  done,  and  go  back  to  his  father. 

Rollo  took  a  great  deal  of  pains  with 
the  berries  he  picked  ;  he  chose  the  largest 
and  ripest,  and  was  very  careful  not  to 
get  in  any  sticks  and  leaves.  His  bas- 
ket was  small,  and  he  intended,  as  soon  as 
he  got  it  full,  to  carry  it  carefully  to  his 
mother,  and  pour  his  berries  into  her  large 
tin  pail.  He  was  succeeding  finely  in 
this,  but  then  he  had  insensibly  strayed 
away  so  far  from  his  father,  that  now  he 
was  entirely  out  of  his  sight. 

At  length,  as  Jim  was  sitting  on  a  log  to 
rest  himself,  as  he  said,  he  saw  a  little 
bird  alight  on  the  branch  of  a  black  stump 
near. 

"  Hush,"  said  he ;  "  there  is  a  Bob-a- 
link.     See  how  I  will  fix  him." 
h  p 


170    TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

So  saying,  he  picked  up  a  stone,  and  was 
going  to  throw  it. 

Rollo  begged  him  not  to  kill  that  pretty 
little  bird  •  but  he  paid  no  attention  to 
what  Rollo  said.  He  threw  the  stone 
with  all  his  force ;  but  fortunately  it  did 
not  hit  the  bird.  It  struck  the  limb  that 
the  bird  was  perched  upon,  and  shivered 
it  to  fragments,  and  the  bird  flew  away, 
terrified. 

"  Now,  what  did  you  do  that  for  ?  "  said 
Rollo ;  "  you  might  have  hit  him." 

"  Hit  him  !  "  said  he  ;  "  I  meant  to  hit 
him,  to  be  sure." 

"  But  what  good  does  it  do  to  kill  little 
birds  ?  I  found  one  this  morning,  and  I 
would  not  kill  him  for  any  thing." 

"  Where  did  you  find  him  ?  "  said  Jim. 

Rollo  then  told  the  boys  all  about  his 
finding  a  little  bird,  in  its  nest  floating  in 
the  brook,  and  about  their  naming  him 
Mosette ;  as  is  described  in  the  story 
called  "  Blueberrying  ;  "  and  Jim  said,  if 
he  had  found  him,  he  would  have  put  him 
on  a  fence,  for  a  mark  to  fire  stones  at. 
"  I  would  have  made  him  peep,  I  tell  you," 
said  he. 

Rollo  said  he  would  not  have  him  killed 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.         171 

on  any  account.  He  was  going  to  carry 
him  home,  and  feed  him,  and  tame  him. 

"  But  where  is  he  now  ?  "  said  Jim. 

"  O,  we  hid  him  behind  a  stone,  down 
at  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  where  our 
horses  are  tied." 

"But  how  can  you  find  him  again?" 
said  Jim. 

"  O,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  know ;  it  was 
behind  the  corner  of  a  stone,  just  in  the 
bushes,  where  we  tied  the  horse." 

Jim  winked  at  the  other  boys  when 
Rollo  said  this,  though  Rollo  did  not  see 
it.  He  was  vexed  with  Rollo,  because  he 
reproved  him  for  stoning  the  bird. 

"  I  would  set  him  up  for  a  mark,  if  I  had 
him,"  said  Jim.  "  I  wish  I  had  been  there 
when  you  found  him ;  I  would  have  taken 
him  away  from  you." 

"  No,  you  would  not  have  taken  him 
away.     Jonas  would  not  let  you." 

"  Jonas!  who  is  Jonas  ?  and  what  do 
you  think  I  care  for  Jonas  ?  "  said  he. 

He  then  came  up  to  Rollo,  and  looked 
into  his  basket,  and  saw  it  nearly  full  of 
large  ripe  blueberries. 

"  And  I  believe,"  said   he*  "  that  you 


172        TROUBLE  ON  THE   MOUNTAIN. 

have  stolen  some  of  my  berries  out  of  my 
basket,  while  I  have  been  sitting  here." 

"No,  I  have  not,"  said  Rollo.  "I  have 
not  touched  your  basket." 

"  You  have,"  said  Jim,  fiercely,  "  and  I 
will  have  them  back  again.  Besides,  I  put 
some  into  yours,  while  you  went  to  your 
father.  So  half  the  berries  in  your  basket 
are  mine." 

This  was  a  lie ;  but  bad  boys,  like  Jim, 
will  always  lie,  when  they  have  any  thing 
to  gain  by  it.  He  came  up  to  Rollo,  and 
began  to  pull  his  basket  away  from  him. 
Rollo  struggled  against  him,  and  began  to 
cry.  But  Jim  was  too  strong  for  him  :  he 
tipped  his  basket  over,  poured  a  great 
many  of  the  berries  into  his  own  basket, 
and  the  rest  were  spilled  over  on  to  the 
ground.  Then,  angry  at  Rollo's  screams 
and  cries,  he  trampled  on  all  the  berries 
that  were  on  the  ground,  and  was  begin- 
ning to  run  away.  Rollo  caught  hold  of 
the  skirt  of  his  coat,  screaming  all  the 
time  for  his  father.  Jim  turned  round,  and 
struck  Rollo  with  his  fist,  knocked  him 
down,  and  then  he  and  the  other  boys  set 
off,  as  fast  as  they  could  run,  through  the 


TKOUBLE   ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 


173 


bushes ;  and  they  disappeared  just  as 
Rollo's  father  and  Jonas  came  hastening 
to  his  aid. 


They  raised  Rollo  up,  and  his  father 
took  him  in  his  arms  to  carry  him  away. 
He  saw  that  there  had  been  some  serious 
difficulty  with  the  bad  boys,  but  he  did 
not  ask  Rollo  any  thing  about  it,  then ; 
for  he  knew  that  he  could  not  talk  intelli- 


174    TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

gibly  till  he  had  done  crying.  Rollo  laid 
his  head  down  on  his  father's  shoulder,  as 
he  walked  along,  and  sobbed  bitterly. 


A  TEST  OF  PENITENCE. 

His  father  carried  him  back  to  where 
his  mother  and  uncle  were,  who  were  com- 
ing towards  him  looking  anxiously. 

They  presently  got  pretty  near  them, 
Rollo  still  continuing  to  cry.  His  father 
then  said  to  him, 

"  Rollo,  be  still  a  moment.  I  want  to 
speak  to  you." 

When  he  first  took  Rollo  up,  he  did  not 
command  him  to  be  still,  for  he  knew  that 
it  would  do  no  good.  He  was  then  so 
overwhelmed  with  pain  and  terror,  that 
he  could  not  help  crying ;  and  his  father 
never  commanded  impossibilities.  By 
this  time,  however,  the  pain,  and  the  im- 
mediate terror,  had  so  far  subsided,  that 
his  father  knew  he  could  now  control  him- 
self, and  Rollo  knew  that  he  must  obey. 
He  accordingly  stopped  crying  aloud,  and 
tried  to  listen  to  his  father. 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.    175 

"Rollo,"  said  his  father,  "I  pity  you 
very  much.  I  warned  you  against  this 
bad  company,  and  now  I  perceive  you 
have  got  into  some  difficulty  with  them ; 
but  I  cannot  hear  your  story  about  it  till 
we  get  home.  It  is  your  own  fault  that 
has  brought  you  into  trouble ;  and  now 
you  must  not  extend  your  trouble  over  all 
our  party,  and  spoil  our  happiness,  as  you 
have  your  own.  I  must  go  and  put  you 
by  yourself,  until  you  get  entirely  com- 
posed and  pleasant,  and  then  you  may 
join  us  again." 

"  But,  father,"  said  Rollo,  beginning  to 
cry  afresh  at  the  thoughts  of  the  boys'  treat- 
ment of  him,  "  they  came  up  to  me,  and 
—and—" 

"Stop,  Rollo,"  said  his  father.  "Be 
still.  You  cannot  tell  the  story  intelligi- 
bly now,  and  if  you  could,  I  should  not  be 
willing  to  listen  to  it.  You  must  not  say 
any  thing  about  it,  unless  you  are  ques- 
tioned, until  we  get  home." 

By  this  time  they  came  up  pretty  near 
the  place  where  the  rest  of  the  party  were  ; 
but  his  father  did  not  take  him  there.  He 
turned  aside,  and,  putting  Rollo  down,  he 
led  him  along  to  a  smooth  log,  which  lay 


176         TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

among  some  old  trees,  close  by,  and  told 
him  to  sit  there,  until  he  was  entirely  com- 
posed and  pleasant  again,  and  then  to 
come  to  him,  or  to  go  to  picking  berries 
again,  just  as  he  pleased. 

Rollo  sat  on  the  log,  for  some  time, 
with  his  empty  basket  by  his  side,  mourn- 
ing over  his  sorrows.  Lucy  came  to  him, 
and  endeavored  to  console  him.  She 
begged  him  not  to  cry ;  and  she  poured 
out  half  of  her  own  berries  into  his  basket, 
and  told  him  that  they  could  soon  fill  it  full 
again,  if  he  would  come  with  her  to  a 
good  thick  place  she  had  found.  Rollo 
became  gradually  quiet  and  composed,  and 
walked  along  with  Lucy. 

Lucy  had  indeed  found  a  place  where 
the  berries  were  very  thick  and  large,  and 
Rollo  determined  to  be  as  industrious  as 
possible.  They  worked  away  very  busi- 
ly for  half  an  hour,  and  Rollo  gradually 
recovered  his  spirits. 

His  mother  watched  him  from  time  to 
time,  and  when  she  saw  that  he  was  good- 
humored  again,  she  said  to  his  father, 

"  Rollo  seems  to  be  picking  his  berries 
very  pleasantly.  I  rather  think  he  is  sorry 
for  his  conduct." 


TROUBLE   ON  THE   MOUNTAIN.         177 

"  Yes,  I  see  he  is  getting  good-humored 
again,  but  I  am  afraid  he  is  not  truly  pen- 
itent. It  is  easier  to  forget  a  sin,  than  to 
be  sorry  for  it.  It  is  very  easy,  however, 
for  us  to  ascertain." 

"  How  can  we  ascertain?"  asked  his 
mother; 

"Why,  if  you  should  go  and  ask  him 
about  it,  if  he  is  really  penitent,  he  will  be 
troubled  most  to  think  of  his  disobedience 
in  going  into  the  bad  company ;  but  if  he 
is  not  penitent,  he  will  not  think  of  that, 
but  only  go  to  scolding  about  the  bad 
boys." 

"  That  is  true,"  said  she.  "  I  have  a 
great  mind  to  go  and  try  him." 

Rollo's  father  thought  it  would  be  a 
good  plan,  and  she,  accordingly,  walked 
along  towards  Rollo  slowly,  gathering 
berries  as  she  went. 

Rollo  saw  her  coming,  and  said,  "  Here 
is  mother,  Lucy ;  let  us  go  and  give  her 
our  berries." 

So  saying,  he  carried  his  basket  up  to 
her  very  pleasantly,  and  said,  "  Here,  moth- 
er ;   see,  here  are  all  these  berries  I  have 
been  picking  for  you." 
12 


178         TROUBLE   ON  THE   MOUNTAIN. 

"  Ah,"  said  she,  "  did  you  pick  all 
these  for  me  ?  " 

"  E — h — no,"  said  he  ;  "  not  all ;  Lucy 
gave  me  some." 

"  Well,  Lucy,  1  am  very  much  obliged 
to  you,  and  I  am  glad  to  see  that  you, 
Rollo,  are  pleasant  again  ;  I  am  sorry  you 
went  and  got  into  difficulty  with  those 
boys." 

"  They  came  and  took  away  my  berries," 
said  he,  "  and  struck  me — that  great  ugly 
Jim." 

The  feelings  of  vexation  and  anger 
against  the  bad  boys  began  to  rise  again 
in  Rollo's  mind,  the  moment  he  began  to 
talk  about  them,  and  he  was  just  going  to 
cry.     His  mother  stopped  him,  saying, 

"  You  need  not  tell  me  about  him  any 
more.     1  see  how  it  is." 

"  How  what  is  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  How  it  is  about  your  being  sorry. 
Your  father  told  me  that,  if  you  were  truly 
penitent  for  what  happened  about  those 
boys,  I  should  find  you,  when  I  came  to 
talk  with  you  about  it,  grieved  for  your 
own  fault,  and  if  you  were  not  penitent, 
you  would  only  be  angry  at  theirs.  I  see 
which  it  is." 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.    179 

Rollo  was  silent  a  moment.  He  felt 
the  truth  and  justice  of  the  distinction; 
but,  like  all  boys  who  are  not  sorry  for  the 
wrong  they  have  done,  he  could  not  resist 
the  temptation  to  try  to  justify  himself  by 
throwing  the  blame  on  others.  So  he 
began  to  tell  her  something  more  about 
"  that  cross  old  Jim,"  but  she  interrupted 
him,  and  told  him  she  did  not  wish  to  hear 
any  thing  about  that  "  cross  old  Jim." 
He  was  not  her  boy,  she  said,  and  she  had 
nothing  to  do  with  him  or  his  faults. 

She  then  went  to  talking  about  other 
things,  and  helped  Rollo  begin  to  fill  his 
basket  again.  He  showed  her  where  the 
berries  were  thickest,  and  led  her  round 
behind  a  rock  to  show  her  a  beautiful  wild 
flower  that  he  had  found;  he  said  he 
did  not  bring  it  to  her,  for  his  father  had 
told  him  not  to  touch  any  flowers  or  ber- 
ries that  they  did  not  know,  for  fear  they 
might  be  poisonous. 

After  a  little  while,  Rollo's  mother  left 
him  and  Lucy  together,  and  went  back  to 
where  his  father  and  uncle  were. 

"  Well,"  said  they,  "  how  did  you  find 
Rollo?" 

"  Pleasant,  but  not  penitent"  said  she. 


180        TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

Lucy  and  Rollo  went  on  gathering  ber- 
ries some  time  after  Rollo's  mother  left 
him,  in  silence.  Rollo  felt  rather  unhappy, 
but  he  was  not  subdued.  His  heart  was 
still  proud  and  unhumbled,  and  after  a 
time,  he  said  to  Lucy, 

"  It  seems  to  me  very  strange  that  my 
mother  does  not  think  those  boys  were  to 
blame  any  for  doing  so." 

"  She  does  think  they  were  to  blame, 
Rollo,"  I  know. 

"  No,  she  does  not :  she  will  not  hear  me 
say  any  thing  about  them."  .  , 

Lucy  did  not  answer,  because  she  knew 
it  w7ould  do  no  good  to  dispute  with  Rollo, 
wThile  he  was  so  unreasonable.  Rollo  ought 
to  have  been  willing  to  have  seen  his 
fault,  and  to  have  felt  truly  sorry  for  it  ; 
but  he  was  not,  and  so  Lucy  thought  it 
was  better  not  to  talk  with  him  about  it 
at  all.  If  he  had  been  truly  sorry,  and 
had  gone  and  told  his  father  so,  and  asked 
his  forgiveness,  he  would  have  been  happy 
again. 

But  as  it  was,  he  was  not  happy.  The 
recollection  of  his  disobedience  and  sin 
would  remain  in  his  mind,  and  though  he 
tried  to  talk,  and  laugh,  and  play,  as  usual, 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.        181 

his  mind  was  not  much  at  ease.  In  fact, 
he  was  secretly  glad  when  the  time  arrived 
for  going  home. 

The  party  all  gathered  together  on  a 
smooth  piece  of  ground,  about  the  middle 
of  the  afternoon,  to  make  their  arrange- 
ments for  going  down  the  mountain. 
They  put  their  baskets,  filled  beautifully 
with  blueberries,  together  on  the  grass, 
while  they  sat  on  the  stones  and  logs 
around,  to  rest  a  little  before  walking 
down. 

Then  Rollo's  father  arranged  the  order 
of  march.  Jonas  was  to  go  first,  with  two 
Df  the  heaviest  baskets  of  berries.  Next 
came  Lucy,  with  her  little  basket  about 
two  thirds  full,  and  with  leaves  and  some 
beautiful  pieces  of  moss  she  had  found, 
put  in  upon  the  top.  Then  came  Rollo's 
mother  leaning  on  his  uncle's  arm.  His 
uncle  had  a  basket  of  berries  in  his  oth- 
er hand.  Finally,  Rollo  and  his  father 
walked  together  behind,  with  each  a  bas- 
ket in  his  hand.* 

Thus  they  walked  along  down  the  steep 
path,  until  they  began  to  enter  the  bushes. 


•  See  picture  akthe  beginning  of  this  story. 


182        TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

Rollo's  father  had  made  this  arrangement 
so  that  he  might  have  an  opportunity  to 
talk  with  him  about  the  difficulty  with  the 
boys,  for  he  thought,  on  the  whole,  it 
would  be  better  to  talk  with  him  now 
than  to  wait  till  they  got  home. 

After  they  had  walked  along  a  little 
way,  Rollo's  father  asked  him  whether  he 
had  a  good  time  blueberrying  ? 

"  Why,  yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "  pretty 
good." 

"  Have  you  seen  any  thing  more  of  those 
boys  ?  " 

"  No,  sir." 

"  Your  mother  went  to  talk  with  you, 
and  said  you  did  not  seem  very  sorry  for 
your  fault." 

"  Why,  father,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  did  not 
do  any  thing  to  the  boys  at  all :  it  was  all 
their  fault,  entirely." 

"  I  don't  suppose  you  did  do  any  ihing 
wrong  towards  them,  but  you  committed 
a  great  fault  in  respect  to  me." 

"  What  fault  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

H  Disobedience." 

"  Why,  father,  how  ?  You  did  not 
tell  me  to  stay  close  by  you." 

"  And  is  a  boy  guilty  of  disobedience 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN  183 

only  when  he  does  what  his  father  forbids 
in  words  ?  " 

"  I  suppose  so,"  said  Rollo. 

"  What  is  disobedience  ?  "  asked  his 
father. 

"  Why,  it  is  doing  what  you  tell  me 
not  to  do ;  is  it  not  ?  " 

"  That  is  not  a  sufficient  definition  of 
it ;  for  suppose  you  were  out  there  in  the 
bushes,  and  I  was  to  beckon  you  to  come 
here,  and  you  should  not  come,  would  not 
that  be  disobedience  ?" 

"  Why,  yes,  sir." 

"  And  yet  I  should  not  tell  you  to 
come." 

"  No,  sir." 

"  And  so,  if  I  were  to  shake  my  head 
at  you  when  you  were  doing  any  thing 
wrong,  and  you  were  to  continue  doing 
it,  that  would  be  disobedience." 

Rollo  admitted  that  it  would. 
"  So  that  it  is  not  necessary  that  I  should 
tell  you  in  words  what  my  wishes  are  :  if 
I  express  them  in  any  way  so  that  you 
plainly  understand  it,  that  is  enough.  The 
most  important  orders  that  are  given  by 
soen,  are  often  given  without  any  words." 

"  How,  father  ?  " 


184        TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

"  Why,  at  sea,  sometimes,  where  there  is 
a  great  fleet  of  ships,  and  the  admiral,  who 
commands  them  all,  is  in  one  of  them. 
Now,  if  he  wants  all  the  fleet  to  sail  in 
any  way  ;  or  if  he  wishes  to  have  some  one 
vessel  come  near  to  his,  or  go  back  home, 
or  go  away  to  any  other  part  of  the  world  ; 
or  if  he  wants  any  particular  person  in  the 
fleet  to  come  on  board  his  vessel, — he  does 
not  send  an  order  in  words;  he  only 
hoists  flags  of  a  particular  kind  upon  the 
masts  of  his  vessel,  and  they  all  obey 
them. 

"Now,  suppose,"  continued  he,  "one 
of  the  ships  did  not  sail  as  he  wished, 
and  when  he  called  the  captain  to  account 
for  it,  he  should  say  that  he  was  not  guilty 
of  disobedience,  because  he  did  not  tell 
him  to  sail  so." 

Rollo  laughed,  and  said  he  thought 
that  would  not  be  a  very  good  excuse. 

"  Well,  it  is  just  such  an  excuse  as 
yours.  I  did  not  positively  command  you 
not  to  go  near  the  boys,  or  not  to  have 
any  conversation  with  them  at  all,  though  I 
expressed  my  wish  that  you  would  not, 
so  that  you  could  not  help  understand- 
ing it."  .  • ' 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.        185 

Rollo  could  not  deny  that  this  was  so. 

"But  that  is  not  the  only  case  of  diso- 
bedience. For  you  did  one  thing  which 
was  contrary  to  my  express  command  in 
words" 

Rollo  looked  concerned,  and  said  he  was 
sure  he  did  not  know  it. 

"  I  told  you  not  to  go  out  of  my  sight." 

"Well,  but,  father,"  said  Rollo  eagerly, 
in  reply,  "  I  am  sure  1  did  not  mean  to. 
I  was  picking  berries  so  busy,  I  did  not 
observe  where  I  was." 

"  I  know  you  were,  and  that  was  the 
disobedience  ;  for  when  I  command  you  to 
keep  in  sight  of  me,  that  means  that  you 
must  take  good  care  that  you  do  mind 
where  you  are.  Suppose  I  were  to  tell 
Jonas  that  he  might  go  and  take  a  walk, 
but  that  he  must  be  sure  to  come  back 
in  half  an  hour,  and  he  should  go,  and  pay 
no  attention  to  the  time,  and  so  not  come 
back  until  three  quarters  of  an  hour; 
would  that  be  obedience  ?  " 

"  No,  sir ;  but  it  would  not  be  so  bad  as 
it  would  be  if  he  should  stay  away  when 
he  knew  that  the  time  was  out." 

"  No,  it  would  not  be  so  wilful  an  act 
of  disobedience,  but  it  would  be  disobedi- 
h*  q* 


186        TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

ence,  notwithstanding.  You  see,  Rollo," 
he  continued,  "  when  I  tell  you  or  any 
boy  to  come  back  in  half  an  hour,  there 
are  two  things  implied  in  the  command — 
first,  that  you  should  notice  the  time,  and, 
secondly,  that  you  should  come  back  when 
the  time  is  out.  Now,  you  may  disobey  the 
command  by  neglecting  either  of  these." 

"  Yes,  sir,"  said  Rollo,  "  I  see  we  may, 
but  I  did  not  think  of  it  before." 

"  No,  I  presume  you  did  not,"  said  his 
father ;  "  but  I  want  you  to  understand  it, 
and  remember  it  after  this  forever.  You 
have  disobeyed,  to-day,  in  two  ways,  in 
which  boys  are  very  apt  to  disobey,  when 
they  do  not  mean  to  do  it  wilfully.  I  will 
tell  you  what  the  principles  are,  again,  so 
that  you  can  remember  and  tell  me  when 
1  ask  you. 

"  1.  Boys  must  take  care  to  comply 
with  their  parents'  directions,  if  they  are 
expressed  in  any  way  whatsoever ;  and, 

"  2.  When  directed  to  do  any  thing  in  a 
particular  time  or  way,  they  must  see  to  it 
themselves,  that  they  notice  and  keep  in 
mind  the  circumstances  which  they  are  re- 
quired to  attend  to." 

Rollo  said  he  would  try  to  remember  it, 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.         187 

and  as  he  seemed  attentive  and  docile, 
his  father  did  not  talk  with  him  any  more 
about  his  fault  at  that  time.  Besides,  they 
came  now  to  some  very  rough  places  in 
the  path,  and  Rollo's  father  had  to  lift 
Lucy  over  them. 

Lucy  spilled  some  of  her  berries  in  one 
place,  and  Rollo  was  going  to  help  her 
pick  them  up,  but  Jonas  said  they  had 
better  leave  them  for  the  birds,  and  walk 
on. 

"  So  we  will,  Lucy,"  said  Rollo,  "  and 
I  rather  think  that  Mosette  is  hungry  by 
this  time." 

"  Yes,"  said  Jonas,  "  and  what  are  you 
going  to  do  with  Mosette  ?  " 

"  O,  put  him  in  a  cage,  and  bring  him 
up  tame,"  said  Rollo.  I  mean  to  teach 
him  to  eat  out  of  my  hand.  I  shall  treat 
him  very  kindly,  though  he  is  my  little 
prisoner." 

"  I  would  give  him  the  liberty  of  the 
yard,  if  I  were  you,"  said  some  one  behind, 
laughing. 

Rollo  looked  round.  It  was  his  uncle 
George,  walking  close  behind  him.       - 

"  What  is  the  liberty  of  the  yard  ?  " 
said  Rollo. 


188    TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

"  Why,  when  men  intend  to  treat  a  pris 
oner  kindly,  they  leave  the  prison  door 
open,  and  let  him  walk  about  the  yard ;  and 
this  is  called  letting  him  have  the  liberty  of 
the  yard  ;  and  sometimes  they  let  them  go 
over  half  the  town." 

"  Do  you  think  I  had  better  do  so  with 
Mosette  ?  "  said  Rollo. 

"  Yes,"  said  his  uncle  George  ;  "  leave 
his  cage  open,  and  let  him  go  where  he 
pleases." 

"  O,  he  w7ould  fly  entirely  away,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  Perhaps  not,  if  you  should  feed  him 
well,  and  treat  him  very  kindly.  He 
might  like  his  cage  better  than  any  nest." 

"  I  shall  treat  him  as  kindly  as  I  can," 
said  Rollo  ;  "  only  think,  Jonas,  that  Jim 
said,  if  he  had  found  him,  he  should  have 
set  him  up  upon  the  fence  for  a  mark  to 
fire  stones  at !  " 

"  Jim  said  so  ?  "  said  Jonas  ;  "  how  did 
Jim  know  any  thing  about  it  ?  " 

"  Why — e — h — why-— 'I  told  him,"  said 
Rollo. 

"  What  did  you  tell  him  for  ?  " 

"  O,  because,"  said  Rollo,  "  we  were 
talking,  and  I  told  him." 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.        189 

"  1  hope  you  did  not  tell  him  where  we 
hid  Mosette,  behind  the  rock." 

"Why — yes,"  said  Rollo,  "I  believe 
I  did." 

"  Then  I  am  afraid  you  will  never  see 
poor  Mosette  again,"  said  Jonas. 

"Why,"  said  Rollo,  "you  don't  think 
that  he  would  go  and  get  him." 

"  I  don't  know,"  said  Jonas,  "  what 
he  would  do ;  but  I  should  not  have  want- 
ed to  tell  such  a  boy  any  thing  about  him." 

Rollo  began  to  be  alarmed.  He  went 
back  to  his  father,  and  asked  him  to  let 
him  and  Jonas  go  on  before  the  rest,  to 
see  if  their  bird  was  safe.  His  father  told 
him  he  might  go.  "  But,"  said  he,  "  I  am 
afraid  you  have  lost  your  bird  ;  when  a 
boy  allows  himself  to  get  into  bad  com- 
pany, he  does  not  know  how  many  troubles 
he  plunges  himself  into." 

Rollo  and  Jonas  ran  on,  and  soon  disap- 
peared among  the  trees.  Rollo  found  it 
hard  to  keep  up,  as  the  road  was  not  very 
smooth,  though  they  had  got  down  the 
steepest  part  of  the  mountain.  Jonas 
kept  hold  of  Rollo's  hand,  and  went  on 
running  and  walking  alternately,  until 
they  got  down  to  the  end  of  the  trees 


190        TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN. 

and  bushes,  and  then  they  came  out  in 
sight  of  the  place  where  the  horses  were 
tied. 

It  was  fortunate  for  poor  Mosette,  and 
for  Rollo  too,  that  they  did  thus  run  on 
before,  for  it  happened  that  Jim,  and  the 
boys  with  him,  had  come  down  the  moun- 
tain by  another  road,  and  were  just  going 
up  to  the  place  as  Jonas  and  Rollo  came 
out  of  the  woods. 

"  There  they  are,"  said  Jonas.  "  You 
stay  here  ;  I  must  run  on."  And  he  let  go 
of  Rollo's  hand,  sprang  forward,  and  ran 
with  all  his  might.  Rollo  tried  to  follow, 
but  soon  stopped  and  looked  on. 

Jim  and  his  boys  did  not  see  Jonas 
coming,  and  they  went  to  work  looking 
around  the  bushes  and  stones  after  Mo- 
sette. In  a  few  minutes,  one  smaller  boy 
came  out  from  the  bushes,  close  by  the 
place  where  Rollo  recollected  the  nest 
was  hid,  with  something  in  his  hand,  and 
Rollo  could  distinctly  hear  him  calling  out, 

"  Here  he  is,  Jim — I  have  got  him, 
Jim." 

Just  that  moment,  Jonas  came  running 
up  among  the  boys,  calling  out, 

"  Let  that  bird  alone  ! — Let  that  bird 


TROUBLE  ON  THE  MOUNTAIN.        191 

alone !  "  The  bojs,  terrified  at  this  unex- 
pected onset,  started  and  ran  in  every 
direction.  The  boy  who  had  the  nest, 
dropped  it  upon  the  ground,  and  dodged 
back  into  the  bushes.  Jonas  took  it  up 
carefully,  put  little  Mosette,  who  had  fall- 
en out,  back  in  the  nest,  and  walked  out 
into  the  road  to  meet  Rollo,  who  was 
coming  down  as  fast  as  he  could  come,  on 
the  other  side. 

They  saw  Jim  and  his  comrades  no 
more,  and  Rollo  said  he  believed  he  should 
never  again  want  to  have  any  thing  to  do 
with  bad  boys. 


